


Apologies

by alexdamien



Series: Remade Anew [13]
Category: Saint Seiya
Genre: Abuse, Alcohol, M/M, Sexual Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-05
Updated: 2020-04-09
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:40:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 40
Words: 28,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23486944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alexdamien/pseuds/alexdamien
Summary: Athena grants Aioria's wish to bring Aioros back to life, even after warning him that it might not be a good idea. And now Shura has to confront the fact that he killed the person he loved and needed the most. The E rating is for the last chapter. Beware the warning for sexual violence. I'm serious about that one, but it's limited to chapter 21.
Relationships: Aquarius Camus/Scorpio Milo, Capricorn Shura/Sagittarius Aiolos, Gemini Kanon/Wyvern Rhadamanthys
Series: Remade Anew [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1633726
Comments: 45
Kudos: 44





	1. Chapter 1

Aioria heard Seiya’s voice when he entered the inner residence of the Sanctuary.

“I thought it would be…Just- I don’t know, I didn’t think it would be like this! I thought you two would be…the same…” said Seiya, his voice rising and lowering, as if unsure of his own words

Aioria stepped through the entrance to the balcony where they sat at a white table having lunch.

“Ah, Aioria,” said Athena. “I was waiting for you. Seiya, I’m sorry but this is urgent. Would you wait for me a few moments inside?” she said.

Seiya nodded and stood up. When he left he kept his head low, so Aioria couldn’t see his eyes, but by his posture only, it was clear something had upset him. Aioria had no idea what, though. He bowed before Athena and she signaled to sit at the table and poured him a cup of tea.

“Thank you for coming so fast Aioria, but time has become more of an essence now, and I will need a final answer from you,” she said, and took a deep breath, leaning back on her chair. “Now that the others are back, it is possible to bring back your brother.”

Aioria felt hope rising up in his chest, but he held it down. “But?”

Athena’s small turned sad. “But he would not be the same. He has been dead too long. Almost as much as Shion.”

“Shion had some issues, but other than that he seems fine.”

“But he was alive for a long time. Hundreds of years. Aioros was only fourteen. Death holds a stronger pull the younger you are. We know that enough of his spirit is still together for him to return as the Sagittarius Saint. But he might not return as the brother you once knew.”

Aioria stared at the tea in his cup. It reflected the light of the morning sun outside. It was a beautiful day. The days have been beautiful all week, in fact. The wind hissed as the pushed the white curtains at the entrance here and there. It felt nice and refreshing. The sun and the wind and the daylight which his brother had not seen in over twenty years.

“I want him to come back,” said Aioria, drinking the remainder of his tea.

Athena looked out to the hills seen below the sanctuary. “I will try my best to give him an appropriate body and reinsert him to this time and space, but overall, it might be hard for both of you.”

“It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter how hard it is. I just…” _I want my brother back. I want it all back._ “He deserves to live again.”

Athena smiled. “Then it is decided. Please come to the sanctum chamber tonight with Mu. We will bring him back. Now, could you tell Seiya to come?”

Aioros nodded and stood up. When he walked out, he found Seiya standing near the entrance.

“Sorry for interrupting, Seiya,” said Aioria, ruffling Seiya’s hair. The boy had become much taller recently, and now stood at the same height as Aioria.

“Don’t worry. It was fine. I needed to- It’s nothing. I just feel so strange. Like Saori is farther and farther away, the closer that _Athena_ is. I can’t explain it…” he shook his head. “But it doesn’t matter. You’re getting your brother back, uh? That’s so cool!”

“Mhm. Finally,” he said, and sighed. “Although you know, I…I feel like I just made a mistake…”

“Aioria.”

“But I already decided long ago, that if I could bring him back, any way at all, I would…”


	2. Chapter 2

Aioria sat on the steps outside the entrance to Star Hill when Shura arrived.

“They haven’t begun?” asked Shura.

Aioria shook his head. “They’re already on it. They just asked me to step outside for a moment. Apparently I just had to call him back,” he shrugged. “I guess he heard me.”

Shura sat down next to him. “That’s good.”

Aioria stared at him for a moment, then looked away. “Athena also said he might not come back the same.”

“Not the same? How so?”

Aioria shrugged again. “Who knows? Even she didn’t know. She just said…to not expect too much of him,” he said then stared at the steps under him. He punched one of them, cracking it under his fist. “Fuck, Shura, what if- what if this hurts him somehow? What if it’s painful? I’m starting to think maybe I shouldn’t…”

“If not even the gods know what will happen to him, there’s no use for worrying now. Don’t beat yourself up before anything has even happened.”

They sat in silence for a few moments, staring at the night covering the sanctuary and the zodiac houses under them.

“I would have done the same, you know?” suddenly whispered Shura, without looking at him. “Had the decision been up to me.”

They heard a bell ringing from inside the sanctum. “He’s back, let’s go,” said Aioria, jumping to his feet and running into the tower. Shura ran after him.

They found Athena and Mu standing around the stone slab in the center that Athena used to bring them all back from the dead. Aioros laid unmoving there. Mu smiled at them when he saw them.

“He’s back, but his senses are very sensitive. Try to keep your voices low,” he said in a whisper. Then he turned to Aioros, passing a hand through his hair. “Aioros? Can you stand up?”

“Hmm?”

“Up. Can you sit?”

Mu helped him sit up on the slab, and Aioria stared at him.

“Aioros?” he asked, unable to contain himself anymore. Aioros flinched at the loudness of his voice. Then he blinked, looking at him and Shura.

“That’s Aioria,” explained Mu, helping him up from the stone. “Do you remember Aioria?”

“Aio…ria,” he said, his voice raspy.

“It will probably take a little time before he gets used to his physical senses,” said Athena. “For now, just take care of him and be patient.”

Aioria nodded, and helped Mu to hold him up. He couldn’t take more than a couple steps on his own, so he finally settled on carrying him on his back down to the house of Leo.

He said nothing more, and didn’t give Shura even a second glance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find me on twitter as @alexdamien  
> For updates on my writing go to alexdamien.wordpress.com
> 
> Thank you for reading and if you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a comment. It would mean a lot to me.


	3. Chapter 3

Aioria was battling the coffee maker when Aioros padded barefoot into the kitchen.

“Aioria?” he asked in a raspy voice, and Aioria nearly jumped out of his skin. He whirled around to find his brother standing at the kitchen door, staring at him.

“You can walk now!” said Aioria with a sigh of relief. It had been over two days and he had started to worry that there was something wrong with Aioros’ body.

Aioros noded, then stared at the coffee machine which had finally decided to start working. “What is that?”

“This? Oh, it’s for coffee. Seiya gave it to me. Sit down. Do you think you can eat something now?”

Aioros nodded again and sat down at the table. “I feel hunger now,” he said. “And thirst,” He reached out towards a glass of water on the table, but missed and it came tumbling down the side of the table.

Aioria caught it before it crashed on the floor. “Ups, that was close,” he said with a nervous smile.

“Sorry…”

“It’s fine. But we better get you some shoes now. I haven’t cleaned up and I don’t want you to get hurt with something. It’s all kind of a mess. What do you want to eat?”

“I don’t know”

“How about we start with something familiar?” he asked then thought back to what they used to eat together. “Bread and coffee? How about milk?”

Aioros nodded. Aioria served him a glass of milk, a piece of bread, and a cup of coffee with three spoonfuls of sugar, then way he remembered Aioros took it. Then he sat across him, looking at him carefully. Aioros looked nothing like the fourteen year old that Aioria remembered puttering around the kitchen, looking for something to feed him. He was bigger, broader than Aioria, his eyes less focused than Aioria remembered. Confused by everything somehow.

This seemed more like a strange version of the Aioros in Aioria’s mind. The brother he would have become, and yet…not.

Aioros took a bite of the bread and chewed with obvious disgust.

“You don’t like it?”

Aioros shook his head, leaving the bread down, and took a sip of the coffee.

“This tastes good?” asked Aioros, as if asking himself.

“Too much sugar?”

“No, just…it’s tastes good but…it doesn’t feel good…” he let down the coffee and grimaced. “It hurts. It’s burning.”

He ran off to the bathroom to puke everything he had eaten.

He couldn’t eat anything that day, and went back to lay in bed. Aioros sat at the end of the bed, looking at him sleep and wondering just what he had done to him. He took a deep breath and stood up to leave.

“Aioria?” asked Aioros, suddenly opening his eyes. Aioria nearly tripped over his own feet?

“Eh? Yes? I thought you were asleep”

“I think I was. But I felt you leaving.”

“Sorry. You want me to stay?”

“No, it’s just…I feel things around me, like the energy of things as they move. I can’t explain it. It’s fine, go to sleep.”

“I can stay if you want. You need anything?”

Aioros shook his head. “I just wanted to know…How old am I?”

Aioria stared at him. How old was he? Well, he looked like a fairly normal thirty-two year old. By all means, he _should_ be thirty-two, if Aioria was twenty five. But where had all those years gone for Aioros?

To hell. They had gone to hell.

“…I don’t know.”

Both fell silent for a moment.

“Can I…I want to look at myself. Can you hand me a mirror?” asked Aioros.

Aioria startled. “I- I don’t…I don’t have any mirrors,” he said.

Aioros looked at him, and his stare seemed as heavy and even darker than Shion’s stare. A look that penetrated into the soul.

“Why?” he asked.

Aioria felt his blood run cold. “I just…I guess I…I don’t need them,” he lied. “I’ll go get one from Deathmask!”

“No,” said Aioros, laying back down to sleep again. “It’s fine…Like this…It’s fine.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find me on twitter as @alexdamien  
> For updates on my writing go to alexdamien.wordpress.com
> 
> Thank you for reading and if you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a comment. It would mean a lot to me.


	4. Chapter 4

Only a few days later, Aioros borrowed a pair of shoes and a shirt from Aioria, and announced that he was going home.

“Home? What do you mean home? You’re at the sanctuary,” said Aioria, trying to stop him.

“Yes and I’m going to my house. The house of Sagittarius.”

“Aioros please, you’re still not fully… _you_ yet. Stay for a few days more at least! I haven’t gotten you any clothes or anything.”

“I need to start getting by on my own. And I’ll be better in Sagittarius. The energy there will do me good.”

“Fine, then I’ll go live with you.”

“Aioria, no.”

“I’m not letting you be all on your own. You just figured out how to walk yesterday!”

Aioros put his hand over Aioria’s head, ruffling his hair.

“What are you doing acting all big and mighty? Remember that I’m the big brother here. I haven’t forgotten _that_.”

“It’s not that…,” said Aioria, eyes downcast. He felt anger bubbling up in his chest. Going home. What home was he going to? He clenched his hands into fists, wanting to ask him so many things. _What are you going to look for in Sagittarius? What else do you need? Why am I not home to you?_

He kept silent, and Aioros left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find me on twitter as @alexdamien  
> For updates on my writing go to alexdamien.wordpress.com
> 
> Thank you for reading and if you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a comment. It would mean a lot to me.


	5. Chapter 5

When Milo arrived, Aphrodite was opening the third bottle of whiskey.

“Wow, what the fuck, it’s like eight,” said Milo, stepping over some of the mess in his way to the living room. The place reeked of alcohol and cigarettes. “Are you guys celebrating or evading something? I can never tell.”

Aphrodite served him a glass of whiskey on the rocks. “Evading,” he said, handing the glass to Milo. “Mainly Aioros, but also Aioria, and several other people.”

“Well, you guys better pull your shit together. My wedding’s coming soon and you need to help me. I’m not letting Shaka help with the decorations. So stop being cowards and just go see him.”

Shura let his head fall back, leaning back into the sofa he was draped in. “I went there tho,” he drawled, way past drunk now. “I went there and he had no idea who the fuck I was. Hell, he barely knew who Aioria was.”

Death Mask cackled. “Sounds good. Maybe he’s forgotten who his murderers were,” he said, and downed his glass. Aphrodite rolled his eyes and slapped him over the head.

“Stop that, you idiot.”

Shura sat up and served himself another glass. “Fuck ya’ll, we’ve got to stop getting together, we just keep fucking up,” he took his glass and stood up, pointing at Milo. “Look at him, he stopped partying with us and he’s engaged. I’m out of here.”

He walked out of the house of Piscis into the chilly night and stumbled, glass in hand, down the steps towards the house of Capricorn, the world tilting around him. He sensed a strong presence and stopped in his tracks. It felt bright to his sixth sense, but he didn’t have to wonder for long.

“You’re drunk,” growled Aioria, walking towards him. “Dammit, why are you always drunk now?!”

“That’s none of your business. What do you want?”

Aioria huffed. “Aioros left. He said that he wanted to go live on his own in the house of Sagittarius. I was looking for you to ask you to help me keep an eye on him. He’s still not right. He’s-”

“Me? The last time I kept an eye on him, I killed him Aioria. Please stop taking shitty decisions!”

Aioria punched him on the face. “Yes, you did murder him,” he muttered.

Shura stumbled back against a pillar, and wiped the blood from his split lip. “What, so this is now my fault? Fuck you!” Shura raised his extended hand, summoning some of the power of Excalibur and tried to hit Aioria, but he jumped backwards to avoid him. Shura pursued, slashing at him until he had him against a wall. He slashed again but Aioria dodged down to roll away from him and he only struck the wall. The whole structure wobbled and Shura froze, his hand stuck in the middle of the wall.

“Stop! That wall’s new!” cried Aioria, moving to hold the wall in place. They stood frozen there until the wall stopped moving, and then they breathed twin sighs of relief.

Until Shura tried to pull out his hand. They both stared for a moment at the place where it was lodged in the middle of the structure.

Aioria snorted, then laughed so hard, his laughter echoed around them. “You’re stuck! You idiot, you’re stuck in one of the new walls. Shion’s gonna kick your ass!” he laughed.

“ _I’ll_ kick _your_ ass if you tell him!”

“Oh, yeah, and what’re you gonna do now?”

“Help me get out!”

“How the fuck are you gonna get out without bringing the whole wall down? Nah, he’s gonna find you here tomorrow and he’s gonna be so mad”

“I’ll tell him we were fighting! I’m taking you down with me!”

“Fuck you, I was never here!” said Aioria and ran away, laughing all the way.

“Son of a bitch, wait till I get out of here!” yelled Shura after him.

He felt someone touch his arm and jolted, looking to the other side to find Aioros staring at the wall where his hand was stuck. He gave a disapproving shake of the head and took the glass from Shura’s other hand, leaving it on one of the steps.

“A-Aioros, what-?”

“I could hear you both from the house of Sagittarius,” said Aioros as all explanation. He took something from his pocket, a golden arrow. Then he touched the tip against the wall next to Shura’s hand and broke off just enough of the wall for Shura to pull away. 

“…T-thank you,” muttered Shura, flexing his hand.

Aioros grabbed the glass from the step and smelled it, making a disgusted face. Shura felt a knot of shame choke him in the throat. He tried to grab the glass back, but Aioros held it out of his reach.

“Let’s go, we’ll cover the hole tomorrow,” said Aioros, motioning for Shura to follow him down as they made their way past the house of Aquarius and towards Capricorn.

Shura hesitated at the door of his inner residence, but Aioros made no move to try to leave, so he finally opened the door and walked inside with Aioros following on his heels.

“You want to drink anything?” asked Shura, taking off his jacket and looking for somewhere to leave it on the hanger next to the door, but there were already two jackets, a coat and an umbrella there.

“Yes. Water, please,” said Aioros, walking into the living room and looking at the mess thrown over the couches and on the corners. “I was going to look for you when I heard you two fighting. The pipes at Sagittarius are closed and I’ve got no water and no…nothing, really. I wanted to ask you for candles and other stuff.”

Shura scurried to the kitchen.

“Uh, yeah, that. We use electricity now, I’ll help you set everything up tomorrow morning. So, you heard us…,” he said, looking around the mess of his kitchen for a clean glass and finding none. He grabbed the most decent looking one and rushed to give it a good wash.

“Does he give you reasons to kick his ass often?” asked Aioros.

Shura nearly dropped the glass on the sink. “Shit…No, sorry, I was just- Look, I’m still kinda drunk.”

Aioros scoffed a laugh. “I know, I know. It just seemed so strange to me. You never fought as kids,” he said, strolling into the kitchen, leaning against the door frame. “Everything is so different. You used to be so neat and orderly.”

Shura huffed, looking pointedly at the glass in his hands and not at Aioros.

“A lot has changed,” he said.

Suddenly, Aioros stood behind him, letting his head fall against his back. Shura froze.

“You haven’t,” he breathed against his back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find me on twitter as @alexdamien  
> For updates on my writing go to alexdamien.wordpress.com
> 
> Thank you for reading and if you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a comment. It would mean a lot to me.


	6. Chapter 6

Shion found out about the wall. Because Shion _always_ found out about things like that.

And he had Shura scrub every single step on the house of Capricorn with a toothbrush. It seemed like a fair enough deal to Shura, and he applied himself to it with the discipline that he used to pride himself in. Before he had found out that he’d been a pawn in Aioro’s unjust murder.

By the time the sun was at it’s highest and Shion passed by to see how he was doing, he was done with all but a couple.

“Well done,” said Shion, stepping past Shura. “You can get started with the ones for Sagittarius after this.”

Shura felt like he could scream. “I’m washing both?!” he cried, trying to contain himself.

“You’ll wash as many as it takes for you to repent of what you’ve done.”

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry about the wall! It was an accident, I swear!”

Shion turned around to stare at him in the eyes. All of Shura’s rage vanished and he felt exposed. As if he was completely naked in body and soul before Shion’s eyes. As if he could see every single thought in Shura's head.

“This is not about the wall. There is a darkness inside of you Shura, and you will be there until you wash it from you. I suggest you start with your apologies now,” he said, turned around and left.

Shura sat back on the steps, a cold seeping into his bones and closing his throat, choking him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find me on twitter as @alexdamien  
> For updates on my writing go to alexdamien.wordpress.com
> 
> Thank you for reading and if you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a comment. It would mean a lot to me.


	7. Chapter 7

He was there by nightfall, and he was there by midnight. Scrubbing away, focusing on the movement and not on his own thoughts. Aioria approached him, and crouched down next to him.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t think he would be so angry,” he said.

Shura didn’t look at him. He kept moving the brush and scrubbing at the steps.

“I’ll help you. He’s having you wash all the steps right? We can finish by tomorrow,” said Aioria, reaching out for the brush and touching the back of Shura’s hand.

Shura recoiled from his touch. “No. I’m fine. You should go,” he growled, moving on to the next step.

Two teardrops fell on it, and he looked up to see Aioria shaking, silent tears falling from his eyes.

“I’m sorry, ok?” said Aioria, wiping at his eyes. “I’m sorry I brought him back. Athena was right. He’s not the same. Nothing is the same and now…”

Shura let down the brush and wiped his hands on his shirt. “It’s not about that,” he said, sitting next to Aioria. But he did not touch him. “I was just taking my anger out on you. I’m always… I…” the words died in his throat. He could not say it. He would not say it. “You did nothing wrong. I would have done the same. We…we all wanted him back.”

They sat together in silence for a moment, then Shura stood up.

“Let’s go home,” he said.

Aioria nodded and stood up. “He told me you helped him fix the lights and the pipes. Thanks, I don’t know how I forgot-“

“It’s nothing, don’t mind it. Just go back to Leo, it’s late now.”

Shura watched Aioria leave until he was out of sight and then knelt down on the steps again to keep scrubbing, moving methodically, nonstopping.

“What is it you’re always doing?” asked Aioros, and Shura’s soul damn near jumped right out of his body.

Shura looked up to find Aioros lying down just a few steps above, looking down at him with a placid expression.

“What do you mean?” said Shura, trying to growl, but the words came out strangled.

Aioros gave him a warm smile.

“That thing you’re always doing, that’s the thing that’s hiding there,” he said, pointing at Shura’s eyes. “That’s what Shion wants you to get rid of. The thing that’s destroying you.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” said Shura, looking back down to the brush and the steps. “Go back home. It’s late.”

But Aioros didn’t move for a while. He stared down at Shura with that heavy gaze to his green eyes that seemed so much like Shion’s own all-seeing stare.

Then he stood up. Walked down the few steps that separated them, and picked up Shura, throwing him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

“What are you doing?! Aioros put me down!” yelled Shura, hitting him on the back.

“Ow, ow, that’s so painful Shura. Please don’t damage this weak new body that Athena gave me!” said Aioros, obvious mockery in his voice.

And yet, Shura could not bring himself to keep hitting him. So, he resigned himself to his fate and let Aioros carry him to wherever he was taking him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find me on twitter as @alexdamien  
> For updates on my writing go to alexdamien.wordpress.com
> 
> Thank you for reading and if you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a comment. It would mean a lot to me.


	8. Chapter 8

Aioros took him to the house of Sagittarius.

He only set him down in one of the kitchen chairs. Shura looked around and noticed that there still wasn’t much furniture in the residence. Only the kitchen table and chairs. Aioros went to a different room and Shura considered running out. He wasn’t about to let himself be manhandled like some random potato sack. Not even by Aioros.

“Don’t move!” called back Aioros from wherever he was, and Shura sat back on the chair.

Well, maybe a little by Aioros. Only a little.

And only because he had been alive for a few days at most.

Aioros came back with a box of medicine in his hands and pulled a chair so that he sat in front of Shura.

“Look at this,” he said, pulling Shura’s hand. Only then did Shura realize that he had been scrubbing so much that his hands had cuts and cracks all over.

“It’s nothing,” he said, trying to pull his hand back, but Aioros held on to him with surprising strength.

So much about that “weak new body”. Shura could barely move his hand.

“Are you thirsty?” asked Aioros, focused on cleaning and bandaging Shura’s hand.

“W-what?”

“I can only drink water right now, so if you’re thirsty, that’s all I have on hand.”

“Oh. Uhmm, I’m fine. Aioria told me that you’re very sensitive to food.”

“Mhm. I can only eat meat now, so that’s what I’ve been doing.”

“And what else.”

“Only meat. And salt, and water. I’m hoping soon I’ll be able to eat eggs.”

Shura felt himself getting more and more tired. This body that Athena had given Aioros…it really seemed much weaker than the ones they had gotten. Even weaker than the one Shion had. He wondered why that was. Had Aioros’ spirit been so weak that this was all that Athena had been able to piece together for him? Shura suddenly felt exhausted.

Aioros finished bandaging Shura’s hands and held them in his own, examining his work.

“There. Much better,” he said, smiling at Shura.

His touch warmed Shura’s near frozen hands. Aioros felt soft. Soft and warm.

Shura pulled his hands away. “Thank you, but I’ll be fine.”

Aioros grabbed his hands back, holding them in his own even more firmly.

“What is it about us that you recoil from our touch? Aioria’s and mine,” asked Aioros, rubbing the back of Shura’s hands with his thumbs. “Hmmm, what did you do after I was dead?”

Shura jerked away his hands and stood up. “I’m leaving,” he said and walked out of the Sagittarius residence into the temple, his heart racing in his chest.

He felt fury racing through him and his hands shook. He hated this so much. He hated this feeling of something hiding inside him. He kept walking. And walking.

He stopped, still inside the Sagittarius house. This couldn’t be right. He kept walking.

Minutes later and he still couldn’t find the exit. No way, he had just been here yesterday! He ran. A turn left. A turn right. No exit.

He hit the wall. This couldn’t be happening. “Aioros let me go! I’ll tell Shion!” he yelled out at the darkness of the temple.

Aioros stepped out of the shadows, beckoning him close. “Where are you going? Come here,” he said, a soft smile in his face.

Shura ran away.

He ran and ran until his legs trembled and he barely stumbled forward. “You can’t keep me here!” he yelled again.

“I won’t,” came Aioros voice as an echo, and once more he stepped out of the darkness, a green glow to his eyes that made him look like a stranger to Shura. “I just want to know.”

Shura ran.

Forward, to the left, through hallways and staircases, up and down, until he tripped and collapsed. He knelt on the floor, rage threatening to overwhelm him.

“What is it that you want?!” yelled Shura, punching at the floor. “You want revenge? Fine! Kill me! A life for a life. Come and kill me!”

Aioros was suddenly next to him, passing a hand through Shura’s hair. “You really want me to kill you so bad,” he said, kneeling next to him and patting his back. “Ah, now I really wish I hadn’t died. Look what a mess my death has made of you and Aioria.”

He caressed the side of Shura’s face.

Shura fainted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find me on twitter as @alexdamien  
> For updates on my writing go to alexdamien.wordpress.com
> 
> Thank you for reading and if you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a comment. It would mean a lot to me.


	9. Chapter 9

If Aioros was being honest with himself (and he was starting to realize, he was not going to be able to be honest with anyone else) he really wanted to just keep Shura in the house of Sagittarius. But after considering all that had happened, he ended up carrying the unconscious Shura back to the Capricorn house that morning. He figured it might make for less of a fright when he woke up.

He heard Aioria running up to him.

“Aioros! Where were you? I looked for- What happened to Shura?!”

“He exhausted himself.”

Aioria walked alongside him in silence until they saw the Capricorn house rise up before them.

“…Did you two fight?” asked Aioria.

“Not really” said Aioros, smiling at him. “I just wanted to ask him some questions.”

Aioria pulled at his sleeve and Aioros stopped. They stood still for a moment.

“Don’t hurt him,” said Aioria behind him. “He’s sorry, you know. He…really regrets what he did to you.”

Aioros looked down at Shura’s sleeping face in his hands, then off at the rising sun in the distance. What a mess. What a mess this was. He turned to look at Aioria.

“Have I really changed so much from what you remember?” he asked

“Eh?”

“Am I so different now that you think I would seek revenge?”

Aioria let go of him. He looked sad. Every time since Aioros had come back, all he saw was that sadness in Aioria’s eyes. Growing, darkening inside his brother.

“I don’t know,” said Aioria. “I don’t have much to remember…”

This kid. Ah, he had stayed so honest, and that at least was nice to see.

“I know. Me neither,” said Aioros moving closer to him. The sun had turned Aioria’s hair a tad darker from what he remembered, and he could even spot some freckles appearing over his cheeks.

Living, really, was incredible. He smiled and pressed a kiss to Aioria’s forehead. “Please trust me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find me on twitter as @alexdamien  
> For updates on my writing go to alexdamien.wordpress.com
> 
> Thank you for reading and if you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a comment. It would mean a lot to me.


	10. Chapter 10

Shura woke up mid morning in his bed, feeling like he had gotten beat up with a bat all over. He tried to remember what had happened the night before. He had been scrubbing the steps, then Aioria had arrived, then they’d left for their respective houses, right? He kept having flashbacks to being chased around by Aioros. Endless running through endless hallways, being observed by the shadows around him. Something looking out for him. Observing.

He rubbed at his eyes and heard some knocking on the door. Those had been some awful dreams, he decided, and pushed himself up to go answer the door.

“Dammit Camus, you have a key,” he grumbled, opening the door for him.

Camus lifted an elegant eyebrow at him. “I don’t.”

“Milo has one. He stole it from me years ago.”

Camus shoved a blue and red envelope at him and stepped through the door, looking around with a clear grimace of disgust at the mess. “I came to give you the invitation for our wedding,” he said, and started picking up the discarded clothes thrown over the couches.

“You guys really want to get married fast then, uh? Leave my things alone.”

“We are all back to life now. Why wait any more? And I’m not sitting in a pigsty,” he said and cleared up room in one of the couches for them to sit. He even started folding the clothes.

“That’s dirty,” grumbled Shura.

“So?”

“You fold your dirty clothes?”

“Yes.”

Shura stared at him. “How is Milo in love with you?”

“One of the greatest mysteries of the universe. I’m not about to ask, though.”

Shura huffed and looked down at the invitation. It stated the date and place among swirls of red and blue falling snowflakes. It seemed like Shion had let them use one of the halls of Star Hill. That was a surprise. Shura turned the paper around, noticing the delicate design and high quality of the paper.

“Aphrodite made it,” said Camus, now working on clearing the coffee table in front of them, organizing papers by type and size. “He’s taken over the whole planning with Milo. I’m just happy they don’t make me choose anything.”

Shura nodded and leaned back on the couch. Well, if there was a good time for questions it was this, uh?

“How did you know it? How did you figure out that you loved him?” he asked.

“Hmm? We kissed at the Halloween party-“

“I know, I know, I was there. I meant, how did you know that it was…love.”

“I don’t know.”

Shura threw up his hands in despair. “You’re seriously no good at this. How is it that you’re the first one to get married?”

Camus finally let the mess on the coffee table alone and turned to Shura. “What do you want me to say? It was easy. He was there, and so was I, and we had always been there for each other and I just…I had always loved him, but loving him came so easy. It was so natural. My love was always there, I just didn’t know it was love.”

“Hmmm, it does sounds easy,” muttered Shura, looking back down at the invitation with the gilded letters shining before him, as if mocking him.

“What happened with Aioros?” asked Camus.

“What’s he got to do with this?”

“You’ve been in love with him since forever too.”

“I’ve definitely not-”

“Shura…”

“You don’t kill the people you love!” yelled Shura.

“We would if we had to. And in that moment, you thought you had to,” said Camus, turning back to organizing the coffee table. “It is part of being a saint. Our lives don’t belong to us. Well, they used to not belong to us. Athena has been so much more lax on that lately. It’s been nice. Like having those vacation things Hyoga tells me about.”

Someone knocked at the door.

“Fuck off!” yelled Shura. He had enough with one guest for now.

The door handle creaked and broke off, letting the door swing open. “Shura, sorry. I think I broke it,” said Aioros, coming inside. “I brought you breakfast. Aioria cooked it.”

“Good morning Aioros,” said Camus and stood up. He pulled another invitation from the inner pocket of his blazer. “Since you’re already here, please have this. You’re invited to our wedding.”

Shura stood up. “I’m going to make coffee,” he said and took the plate from Aioros’ hands so he could take the invitation. He was starting to get a serious headache now, and was secretly thankful for the meal. He hadn’t had anything to eat all day yesterday.

“Wow, you two are getting married? I knew it! I told Saga when you two arrived at the sanctuary, those two look like the youngest love birds,” said Aioros, ripping open the envelope.

Camus cleared his throat, and from the kitchen Shura could imagine how embarrassed he was. He looked out the kitchen door at them.

“You guys want to have breakfast too?” he asked in pretense, just to see if he could catch a sight of Camus’ face.

“No, thank you, I’m fine,” said Camus, turning away from Aioros and towards the kitchen. He was covering his face, but Shura could almost see the blush. That had to be a once in a decade happening, and he was going to enjoy Camus’ shame as much as he could.

Aioros walked past Camus and toward the kitchen. “Do you need help? Let me prepare everything, you look tired.”

He blocked Shura’s view of Camus, and when Camus got to the kitchen, his face was back to his usual icy mask. Well, so much for a good laugh, internally lamented Shura.

“I’m fine. I just had the most awful nightmares. I couldn’t rest at all,” said Shura, going back to finish setting up the coffee machine.

“Nightmares?” asked Aioros.

Camus, neat freak and efficiency guru, started cleaning and setting the kitchen table.

“They were crazy. Of you chasing me around a labyrinth in the house of Sagittarius”

“Oh, that actually happened. But then you fainted," said Aioros.

Forks clattered as they fell from Camus’ hands on the table. “I have to go,” he said, starting for the door.

Shura grabbed at his arm like a life line. “Don’t,” he begged.

“I _have_ to leave,” muttered Camus through gritted teeth.

“Don’t. Don’t leave me... With. Him…,” begged Shura. Camus pushed him away and all but bolted out the door.

“Bye Camus! Thanks for the invitation!” called back Aioros. Then he sat down at the table and finished setting everything down.

Shura steeled himself and used every shred of self discipline he had to focus on heating the food and nothing more.

“Why are you so scared of me?” asked Aioros once Shura set the plate on the table. “Am I so different that it’s scary?”

Shura reached for his glasses next to the sink. He felt like he needed some kind of barrier between himself and the way that Aioros’ eyes seemed to be able to look straight into him.

“No,” lied Shura. And it did feel easier to lie with his glasses on. “But you chased me around in a labyrinth. How did you expect me to react?”

Aioros stared at his face curiously. “You wear glasses now?”

“Sometimes. My eyes get tired when I read or when I don’t get enough sleep,” said Shura, finally taking a sip of coffee and feeling life flow back into his limbs.

“You look good with glasses.”

Shura nearly choked on his coffee. He felt his face heating up.

Aioros laughed. “And you look good when you blush.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. I enjoy portraying Camus and Shura's friendship as this slightly hostile relationship. I think they would be great friends, but just be aggressive at each other on principle, refusing to accept that they actually like each other.  
> As for Aioros...ah, Shura was looking at Camus too intensely, wasn't he?
> 
> You can find me on twitter as @alexdamien  
> For updates on my writing go to alexdamien.wordpress.com
> 
> Thank you for reading and if you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a comment. It would mean a lot to me.


	11. Chapter 11

During the morning’s progress report to all the Saints, Shion selected Shura, Death Mask and Aphrodite to go to Shenzhen and take care of a monster there.

“Dohko said it has been causing trouble, but he can’t go deal with it,” said Shion, taking off his glasses and handing the scroll in his hands to Shura. “Shunrei will go into labor soon and he doesn’t want to leave her and Shiryu alone.”

“Aw, babies so fast. How cute,” said Aphrodite with a dreamy look. “I hope it’s a girl.”

“Aside from the fire damage in the boats and buildings, do we have any more clues as to what this thing is?” asked Shura.

“No. Dohko hasn’t been able to go. That is all he has seen from the news and other reports on this internet thing he uses. You’ll have to figure it out, but I’m sending you three so there’s no surprises. I want this thing dealt with efficiently and silently, whatever it is.”

“It’s Xiangliu, the nine headed snake monster. Well, something like it, but some of it’s nine heads can breathe fire,” said Aioros, fidgeting with the pen in his hand. “I saw it in my dreams a couple days ago and what I saw fits the description you just read.”

Death Mask scoffed. “So you came back an oracle now? That’s neat,” he said.

Aioros shrugged. “Not really. But my soul sometimes gets restless and leaves my body at night while I sleep, so I go out and see things.”

The hall fell silent. They all stared at him for a long while until Shion cleared his throat.

“Yes, Athena mentioned that might happen to you. Something like that used to happen to me too when I came back. Not as strong as you, of course, but similar,” said Shion and leaned back in his seat. “Hmmm, if you have already seen it, it might be good for you to go with them. But try to avoid fighting as much as possible.”

He dismissed them with a wave of his hand and they all got up from the table to leave. Camus stumbled as he got out of his chair and Milo patted his back. “Come on, breathe,” he said.

Shura looked at him and saw his face was paler than usual. Next to him, Aphrodite snickered. “Oh, right, that he’s afraid of ghosts. Well, he’s gonna have one at his wedding,” he said with a laugh.

Shura elbowed him on the side and hoped that Aioros walking ahead hadn’t heard any of that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find me on twitter as @alexdamien  
> For updates on my writing go to alexdamien.wordpress.com
> 
> Thank you for reading and if you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a comment. It would mean a lot to me.


	12. Chapter 12

“So, your soul just up and leaves sometimes?” asked Death Mask as they all walked along a deserted stretch of the Shenzhen coast.

“Death Mask!” hissed Aphrodite in reproach.

Aioros gave a soft laugh. “Yeah. Sort of. Athena said that’s normal.”

“Well, gods certainly have different standards for _normal_ ,” said Death Mask.

Walking ahead of everyone, Shura rolled his eyes and wished he could just rip off Death Mask’s tongue.

“DeathMask!” hissed Aphrodite again.

“Well, that’s what I used to do while dead, so it’s not too different for me.”

“Your soul just drifted around? Just like th-?” started Death Mask, but Aphrodite pulled at his hair.

“I swear if you don’t shut your mouth,” he muttered to Death Mask’s ear.

“Yep. That’s what happens when you die,” said Aioros, still smiling. “You first go to the underworld like you guys did, and then the longer you’re dead, the more…diffuse your soul gets. Like you suddenly stop being you. Happens faster the younger you die, but I had enough attachments to hold on to, so I didn’t fade completely.”

“Attachments?” asked Shura this time, even as he wished he had kept his own mouth shut.

“Yes, my soul attached to the memory of Aioria, of Athena, of you and the Sagittarius cloth,” said Aioros with a nonchalant shrug. “So I held on, and that stopped me from becoming an empty soul.”

“T-to me?” stuttered Shura, turning around.

Something coiled around his ankle.

“There it is!” cried Aphrodite, but the monster had already lifted up Shura and thrown him into the sea.

The great snake rose from under the sand, tall as a building, it’s nine heads roaring and speaking. It grabbed Death Mask and Aioros with two of it’s eighteen hands, raising them up in the air only to smash them against a nearby cliff.

Death Mask recovered before they had even fallen, and he jumped up, grabbing a hold of the monster’s arm and tore it off while Aphrodite attacked it with his roses.

Aioros froze and fell down the cliff. He called on his cloth but his spirit felt diffuse, his body foreign, his limbs out of his control. He collapsed again while the cliff fell in pieces around him. One of the rocks fell on his left arm and he cried out. He called out to his cloth again and felt it vibrating in response, but his soul felt even more diffuse. Fragmented. As if he was in his body and in the cloth and nowhere, all at the same time.

Further towards the shore, Death Mask and Aphrodite had managed to topple over the monster and it caused a rumble as it fell, making the rest of the cliff crumble down around Aioros. He pushed the rock over his arm away, but it was too late, the pieces of the fallen cliff crashed around him.

Shura rushed to stand next to him, blasting the rocks away with Excalibur.

Aioros let out a breath of relief and laughed. “Thanks Shura.”

Shura nodded, then turned to crouch down towards him and examine his arm. “It doesn’t look too bad. Maybe a few cracks on the bone. But that would have been a good moment to call your cloth,” he said, his fingers ghosting over the wounds on his arm.

Aioros looked away. “I couldn’t…I couldn’t call on it…,” he said in a whisper, gritting his teeth, his intact hand balling into a fist that shook with barely contained rage.

But on his eyes Shura saw fear shining for the first time.


	13. Chapter 13

Shura knocked on the door of the Sagittarius residence and didn’t bother to wait for a response before opening the door himself. He knew Aioros left the doors open all the time.

“Hey, Aioros, I brought you something to eat,” he called, closing the door behind him. The place still looked deserted. No furniture, no nothing other than the bare essentials in the kitchen and bedroom.

Aioros opened the bathroom door and came out with only a towel around his hips.

Shura didn’t know if he should curse or feel blessed. He swallowed the sudden knot on his throat.

“Shura, hi. It’s great that you’re here. Come, can you help me put my arm back on the sling? I took it off to shower but… ugh, what even is this contraption? It doesn’t fit anymore.”

Shura opened his mouth to answer, but no words came out. He closed his mouth. Then opened it again. No words.

Aioros approached him, smiling at him, as if barely containing himself from laughing. He ruffled Shura’s hair.

“What did you bring me? Did you cook something?”

Shura snapped out of it and huffed. “Aldebaran cooked it. It’s lamb shoulder,” he said, walking past him. “Go dress and I’ll put your arm back on the sling. What did Shion say about it?”

“The bone was fine,” called Aioros from the bedroom. “It just got pulled really bad, so I have to wear this thing for a few days.”

Shura rummaged around the kitchen and found exactly two plates, two glasses and two sets of silverware. He made a mental list to start getting things for Aioros, since it seemed clear that he had no intention of fetching anything for himself.

Aioros suddenly appeared behind him, looking over Shura’s shoulder while he heated up the meat.

“Lamb?” he asked, his face so close to Shura’s that he felt shivers down his back. Thankfully, he was dressed now.

“He roasted one the other day and I asked him for some for you. I’m no good with a grill, they’re boring and complicated to use,” said Shura, babbling away anything he could think of to avoid looking at Aioros.

Aioros made a noise of agreement, then reached for Shura’s face to grab his glasses and try them on.

“How do I look?” he asked, a happy smile on his face that took Shura back to being ten and realizing that he loved his smile. He loved the way that smile made his face glow. He loved…He loved so much.

“Stop that. You always look fine,” snapped Shura, taking his glasses back.

Aioros laughed and went to finish setting the table.

“Have you been able to eat anything other than meat? Any spices?” asked Shura, setting the plate on the table. He noticed that Aioros had set the chairs next to each other instead of across. Shura narrowed his eyes at that but decided not to comment on it as he served the plates.

“Fish and eggs are fine, but anything else feels like eating rocks to me,” said Aioros.

“It might be just a matter of time. You want me to put the sling on you now or after breakfast?” asked Shura.

“Now, please. It really hurts now,” said Aioros, a completely painless smile in his face.

Shura helped him put the sling back on and sat down, wondering if he should just move the damn chair to be a little further away from him or what.

“Ah, what a problem,” said Aioros, in a mock worried tone. “Now I can’t use the knife and fork. Shura, can you help me?”

Shura gritted his teeth and set about cutting the meat for Aioros. “You’re acting like a child,” he muttered.

Aioros laughed. “But there’s no time in death. I guess I am still a child,” he said, and stuck out his tongue at Shura.

Shura held to the knife so hard, it bent. So that had been why the smile seemed so much like the one he had given Shura all those years ago.

It was the same.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find me on twitter as @alexdamien  
> For updates on my writing go to alexdamien.wordpress.com
> 
> Thank you for reading and if you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a comment. It would mean a lot to me.


	14. Chapter 14

When Shura left the house of Sagittarius, he grabbed two bottles of whiskey from his residence and marched straight into the house of Pisces, because he Could Not Deal with the knowledge he had now all on his own.

By nightfall, Death Mask, Milo and even Camus had joined them. The third time he had to retell the story, Shura started doing shots.

Aphrodite snatched the bottle away from him. “He’s bullshitting you. He’s not fourteen. Like, have you seen him? He’s built like a brick house. Like something out of the cover of some trashy romance novel. He’s NOT fourteen.”

“He said it to my face,” said Shura, trying to get back the bottle and failing.

“Shura be real, Athena did not bring him back as a teen. And I mean, seriously, look at him. Have you seen how hot he is?”

Shura covered his ears. “Don’t! Don’t say it! Gods, I feel dirty.”

Milo cackled from the other couch, where he sat halfway into Camus’ lap. “Fourteen! Oh, gods, I thought his comeback couldn’t get worse and then it did!”

Camus limited himself to steadily downing glasses of red wine and making vague noises of agreement now and then.

Someone knocked at the door.

“Aphrodite?” yelled Aioria from outside.

“Oh, this is gonna be great,” said Aphrodite then yelled towards the door for Aioria to come in.

Aioria came into the living room, still wearing his armor and holding his helmet under the arm. “Have any of you seen Aioros? I can’t find him anywhere, I just came back from a mission.”

“I saw him going into Virgo this afternoon,” said Camus, serving himself another wine glass.

Aioria sat down next to Aphrodite with a huff and reached for a glass. “I swear, I sometimes can’t deal with this.”

Aphrodite served him some whiskey.” “Well, you’re gonna shit yourself now cos he just told Shura he’s still fourteen.”

Aioria choked on his drink and coughed. “W-what?!” he said, glaring at Shura, who was busy getting himself another shot.

“His exact words were: _there’s no time in death. I guess I am still a child,_ ” said Shura.

Aioria stared at his glass while tears filled his eyes. He let his helmet fall to the floor. The tears fell down his cheeks and into the glass.

“Aw, come on, he was probably just messing with Shura. I mean he’s huge!” said Aphrodite.

Aioria shook his head. Tears kept flowing down his cheeks. In his hands, the glass cracked.

“He’s not the same. I don’t- I don’t know who he is. I don’t know _what_ he is. I…what have I done?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find me on twitter as @alexdamien  
> For updates on my writing go to alexdamien.wordpress.com
> 
> Thank you for reading and if you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a comment. It would mean a lot to me.


	15. Chapter 15

Shura had just managed to put some semblance of order in his kitchen when there was a knock at the door and Aioros strolled inside.

“Your door is still broken,” he said.

“Yes, _someone_ broke the handle,” said Shura, feeling annoyance burning at the pit of his stomach. He had barely recovered from the hangover he had after drinking like a maniac and he had hoped for a quiet day at home.

“Sorry~ I wanted to fix it but…I don’t know how to,” said Aioros with a sheepish smile. “And I don’t want to tell Shion about it. But I can buy you a new one.”

Shura sighed. He really couldn’t stay angry at himfor long. He glared at the coffee maker instead, and decided to direct all his anger at it instead. “Don’t mind it. I’ll write it up on the repairs of the house and it’ll get taken care of.”

“I’ll still buy you a new one,” said Aioros, following him into the kitchen. “I’m sorry. And…I wanted to ask you a favor. I need to buy clothes for the wedding but I don’t know what to get.”

“Just rent any tux that fits. There’s a store at the town.”

“I also need to buy normal clothes. I've been borrowing Aioria's but they're too tight.”

“Mhm?”

“And the Halloween party’s coming. I need a costume for that too.”

Shura knew where this conversation was going, and as a very pragmatic man who knew his own weaknesses, he accepted that he was going to fold if he kept at it on his own. He took out his cell phone and started to dial Aphrodite´s number.

“Aphrodite can help you better. He’s the fashion expect,” he said.

Aioros snatched his phone away.

“But I don’t want Aphrodite to help me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find me on twitter as @alexdamien  
> For updates on my writing go to alexdamien.wordpress.com
> 
> Thank you for reading and if you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a comment. It would mean a lot to me.


	16. Chapter 16

Against his will, Shura found himself sitting outside a fitting room in the only store that rented tuxedos in the town.

“The pants are fine, but I don’t think this shirt is my size Shura,” said Aioros from inside.

Shura facepalmed. He really did feel in part like he was dealing with a moody fourteen year old.

“If it’s too baggy it can be fixed. Come out and let me see.”

Aioros pulled aside the curtain and Shura instantly regretted every single decision he had ever made in his life.

The shirt wasn’t too big. Quite the opposite. It wouldn’t close over Aioros’ broad chest.

Shura covered half his face, where he felt his cheeks coloring. He realized that if he combusted on the spot, he would not mind it too much. Might even welcome it, in fact.

“You’ll need at least two sizes more but that’s already a large,” he grumbled. “Why didn’t you bring Aioria instead? Out of all people, you chose to bring your own murderer with you.”

“I’m not letting my little brother choose my clothes. I still have some pride,” said Aioros, unbuttoning the shirt. “And if he came, I couldn’t have bought him this as a surprise!” he rummaged inside one of the many bags that he carried and pulled out a lion costume, complete with ears and paws. “Or this!” he pulled out a shirt that said _Big Cat_ on it.

Shura groaned.

Aioros put the silly costume and clothes back into the bags. “And about what happened to me… That doesn’t matter anymore. After all, you remembered me so much after death. Even after so many years, only you and Aioria still called out for me”

“Call out…to you? You heard us…?”

Aioros gave a soft laugh. “Ah, is that too spooky? But it really made me very happy.”

Shura’s blood ran cold. “So you…you could hear me? When I thought of you?”

Aioros gave an absentminded nod as he stepped out of the fitting room. “When people think of you, or talk to you, their memories of you sort of…align with your own memories of yourself in death. They sort of anchor you. That’s why I was able to hold on to you and Aioria. The Sagittarius cloth too, also called out to me always. That’s why I was able to not drift away.”

“So you…you heard…”

Aioros passed his hand through Shura’s hair, a warmth shining in his eyes that Shura did not recognize.

“Don’t be so scared. It’s not like I was a ghost hanging around in the shadows. I just…heard you sometimes. I don’t know all that happened during those years. I don’t know what is that darkness you keep inside yourself.”

Shura pushed him back into the fitting room, closed the curtain, and ran out to the public phone on the corner, desperately dialing Aphrodite to come rescue him from this hell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find me on twitter as @alexdamien  
> For updates on my writing go to alexdamien.wordpress.com
> 
> Thank you for reading and if you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a comment. It would mean a lot to me.


	17. Chapter 17

While decorating the haunted house for this year’s Halloween party, Shura kept telling himself that he didn’t really believe in ghosts. Well, he maybe believed in one ghost. One single sort of ghost that was currently perched up on a ladder, hanging decorations from the ceiling while dressed up as a pirate. A sexy pirate. But then, any costume that you couldn’t close at the chest forcefully became a sexy costume.

A door closed on it’s own while Shura tried to grab it, and he cursed his luck. He cursed his luck, his fathe, and every single god he could think of except Athena.

“Fucking hell,” he muttered, reaching for the handle, but it wouldn’t open. He tried again and it came open so easily, he almost banged himself in the face with the door.

“Is something the matter?” asked Aioros, stepping down from the ladder.

“Nothing. Just, this damn door.”

Another door slammed closed on its own near the foyer.

“It’s the ghosts,” said Death Mask, waving his hands up in the air, as if swatting at something.

“You stop that,” said Aphrodite, carrying a tray of cookies into the living room.

“No, he’s right,” said Aioros. “It’s the ghosts in this house. They don’t like that we’re making a party at their house.”

Aphrodite left the cookies at the table and grabbed a Ouija board hanging around as decoration. He shoved it into Aioros’ hands, then grabbed him and Death Mask and led them towards one of the hallways leading to the kitchen.

“Well, in that case you professionals in the occult send those ghosts a nice message and explain that I spent way too long planning this party for them to ruin it, ok?” he said, and shoved them into an empty room.

Aioria peeked his head out of the kitchen. “What happened?”

“Death Mask and your brother are going to try and calm down the ghosts in this place. Come keep an eye on them,” said Aphrodite, walking away, his heels clacking on the wooden floors.

Aioria swore and went to see what it was all about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find me on twitter as @alexdamien  
> For updates on my writing go to alexdamien.wordpress.com
> 
> Thank you for reading and if you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a comment. It would mean a lot to me.


	18. Chapter 18

They tried. They really did try to make contact with the ghosts.

Death Mask even connected the Ouija board with the underworld, and Aioros let his spirit drift from his body to listen more clearly to the ghosts. But even after all their tries, they still couldn’t put together any form of communication with the ghosts.

Aioria rubbed at his temple and stood up. “That’s enough for me,” he said, walking towards the door. "You keep that going, I'm-, Oh, hey Camus.”

Aioros looked up to see Camus on the other side of the door. His eyes went from Death Mask to Aioros with a barely contained grimace.

"What on earth are you guys doing?" asked Camus.

Aioria shrugged. "You'd think as gold saints we would have better ways of dealing with ghosts, but..."

"These are different, ok? They've been dead a while!" cried Death Mask.

"You want to try it Camus?" asked Aioros with a nonchalant smile in his face. "It's actually kind of fun."

Camus’ face turned paler than usual. "No, thank you," he muttered through gritted teeth. "I was actually looking for the kitchen."

"It's over here, come," said Aioria, closing the door behind him, sinking Death Mask and Aioros back into the shadows of the room.

Aioros fiddled with the glass they were using on the Ouija board. It felt cold to his touch. “I don’t think we’re gonna make it,” he said. “They’re too far gone. They’re just holding on to what’s left of this house, but that’s not much.”

“You spent damn near twenty years holding on to an armor,” said Death Mask, stretching.

“And Shura and Aioria,” said Aioros, feeling like the temperature in the room and dropped. He wondered if that had been Camus. It sent a shiver down his back.

“Oh, right. Them too. And why only them and not us too?”

Aioros scoffed. “You guys barely even thought of me after you killed me!” he said, pushing down the bubbling resentment rising in his stomach.

“Ah, yeah, that too. I don’t think I’ve said it before, but, uhm…I’m sorry…It was a mistake?”

Aioros flipped the glass upwards. He was tired of this too. He was tired of all this nonsense. “It’s ok, I’m not dead anymore,” he muttered. He could do with a drink, but the last time he had tried alcohol it had felt like pouring acid down his throat and he had spent the rest of the day and a full night in bed, feeling like his insides were on fire.

“That’s good! That’s very good,” said Death Mask.

They sat in silence. Outside, some boring music still played. Suddenly, Aioros wanted to be everywhere but there. Why wasn’t Aioria back? Maybe he should go look for Shura. He could feel his energy around the front of the house, among the cold of the spirits drifting around them. If he let his soul drift just a little more, he might be able to get a clearer image, but…

“Man, no offense, but I get why everyone’s spooked by you. Hell, even I’m kinda weirded out” said Death Mask, leaning back into his chair.

“You are? Why?”

“Come on man!”

Aioros gave an exasperated sigh. Here they go again. “Is it because I’m different now?” he growled. “Gods, I’m sorry but I can’t live up to everyone’s thoughts of who I’m supposed to be. I never actually got to be anything!”

“No, no, it’s just- You’re just weird. I dunno if it’s the _being-dead_ thing or what, but you’re just…off. Like, it’s weird to be sitting here next to a fully grown, flesh eating, fourteen year old who just spent twenty years in hell.”

Aioros flipped the table away and punched him in the face.

Shura opened the door. “What’s going on in here?!” he yelled, and Aioros realized what he had done. He growled, wanting to keep fighting but he couldn’t stand to have Shura see him like that. He stomped out of the room and towards the entrance.

“Wait! Aioros, where are you going?” asked Shura, chasing after him.

“Away! Anywhere! Anywhere else!” yelled Aioros.

Aioria came rushing out of the kitchen and saw Aioros, then he turned to see Death Mask stumbling out of the hallway with a bruise on the side of his face.

“What happened?! What did Death Mask did to you?” asked Shura, pulling at Aioros’ arm.

Aioria turned towards Death Mask “What did you do to my brother?!” he yelled and punched him so hard he sent him cashing into a wall.

Aphrodite rushed to hold him in an armlock. “Have you both gone insane?!” he cried, pushing Aioria down on the floor.

“You let him go!” yelled Aioros, stomping towards him. Shura jumped in front of him, trying to stop him.

Mu tried to step in. “You all need to calm down!” he said, pondering if he would actually have to use his crystal wall to stop this.

Shaka stepped forth. “They need exorcisms to purge the darkness in them.”

Mu facepalmed. “Shaka this is really not the time for that!”

“I’m serious, they have been possessed. Especially Aioros. He’s surrounded by furious spirits.”

Death Mask climbed out of the debris of the collapsed wall and shook his head. “Possessed? Let me see that,” he said, touching at his temple. His blue hair turned white and his eyes glowed red. “Wow, he’s right. I thought I’d just been a jerk but he really is possessed. Fuck, it must have been the Ouija board. His soul is not fully in his body so the ghosts must be trying to gain control of him.”

Aldebaran finally decided that it was enough and he grabbed Aioros from behind, lifting him off his feet. Aioros roared in rage.

“Great, now ghosts are ruining my party. Fucking _ghosts_ ,” complained Aphrodite.

Aioria got his footing back and threw him off his back, sending him flying to crash into the table. Then he stepped past Mu and tackled Aldebaran to the ground to free Aioros. Death Mask grabbed at his legs and pulled dragged him back away from them but got a kick to the stomach for his effort. Aioria kept kicking at him until Aphrodite heaved him over his head and threw him towards the foyer, making him crash through a column.

“What are you doing?!” yelled Mu. “Bring him back, we need to exorcise him!”

“He’s out of control!” cried Aphrodite, whipping his hair back away from his face. Then he cried as Aioria rushed back into the living room and tackled him too.

In the corner, Shaka started reciting the Great Compassion sutra until Aioros grabbed a snack bowl and threw it at his head. Aldebaran used the moment to catch him into a bear hug and immovilize him.

“Shaka, keep the exorcism going!” yelled Aldebaran, struggling to contain Aioros as he struggled and roared in his arms like a wild animal. He trashed so hard, Aldebaran lost his footing and he fell to the floor, but he didn’t let go of him.

“Stop! Please, listen to me. Aioros please, can you hear me?” yelled Shura. “If you could listen to me in death, then listen to me now!”

Aioros looked at him and seemed to recognize him. On the corner, Shaka’s voice reciting sutras filled the room with a soft glow and Aioria finally ran out of energy and stopped struggling against Aphrodite and Death Mask, collapsing in a heap on the floor.

Aioros closed his eyes, and fell unconscious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find me on twitter as @alexdamien  
> For updates on my writing go to alexdamien.wordpress.com
> 
> Thank you for reading and if you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a comment. It would mean a lot to me.


	19. Chapter 19

Shura drove Aioria and Aioros back to the sanctuary with the help of Aphrodite and Death Mask.

“What did you tell him?” asked Shura, looking through the rearview mirror at Death Mask, who sat between the unconscious brothers in the back of the car.

“What? It was the ghosts!” said Death Mask

“If even you admitted you were being a jerk, it must have been bad.”

Death Mask kept quiet for a moment, the he mumbled something intelligibly.

“What?” demanded Shura.

“I called him a flesh eating, fourteen year old…who… had spent twenty years in hell”

“Death Mask!” yelled Aphrodite from the front.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t think it would tip him off to lose control like that!” said Death Mask, holding his hands up.

Aphrodite huffed and tried to comb back his messed up hair with his fingers. “I can’t wait until his soul gets fully stuck to his body, I swear”

Shura hit the steering wheel. “Stop. Gods, could you guys just… _stop_ being jackasses?! I can’t stand it anymore.”

“Shura come on, be realistic. He’s messed up and now he completely loses control like that?” said Aphrodite.

“No. Fuck that. You know what? I’m happy! I’m happy he’s back! Weird, semi dead, spooky, carnivore, whatever. I’m happy he’s back and he doesn’t hate me. That’s all I ever wanted, for him to come back and tell me that he doesn’t hate me. So you could at least try to pretend to be decent to him when we’re around, ok?”

They made the rest of the trip in silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find me on twitter as @alexdamien  
> For updates on my writing go to alexdamien.wordpress.com
> 
> Thank you for reading and if you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a comment. It would mean a lot to me.


	20. Chapter 20

They dropped Aioria at Leo, then took turns carrying Aioros up to Sagittarius. Aphrodite handed him off to Shura at the entrance of the House.

“You were right,” said Aphrodite, toying with a long lock of his hair and avoiding looking at Shura’s face. “We’ve been jackasses to him.”

“Hmmm. Just- I know it’s hard-“

Aphrodite gave a dismissive wave of his hand. “That’s enough emotional nonsense for a night. You want us to help you bring him inside?”

Shura shook his head and the both of them left towards Pisces. Shura watched them leave before entering the house of Sagittarius carrying Aioros on his back and making his way towards the inner residence. He fished around his pocket for the key to the door but couldn’t find it.

“I left the door open,” whispered Aioros against Shura’s ear.

“You’re awake now?” asked Shura, opening the door. He stepped inside and felt around the wall for the light switch.

“Since we got out of the house.”

“Goddammit Aioros.

Aioros gave a small laugh, his breath tickling over Shura’s ear, sending a shiver through his body. “I wanted you to carry me.”

Shura let him down on the living room and went to close the door. “You brat,” he muttered.

Aioros laughed softly and walked slowly toward the bedroom, holding on to the walls. Shura went to him and helped him up.

“I’m fine now,” said Aioros.

“All you learned in death was how to lie, uh?”

“Actually, I picked that up from the living.”

Shura helped him to the bed and sat down next to him. “You want something to drink before I leave? How do you feel?”

Aioros shook his head, looking up at Shura with his usual placid smile. “I feel better now. Thank you.” He grabbed Shura’s hand, entwining their fingers together. “Sorry I ruined the party.”

“It doesn’t matter, don’t think about it,” said Shura, pushing some stray curls away from Aioros’ face. Aioros leaned into his touch.

“That made me very happy,” he said. “That you don’t regret that I’m back. Even despite everything, I’m happy to be back. No matter what I have become.”

“You’re just you, and that’s all that matters.”

Aioros wrapped his arm around Shura’s waist, pulling his closer. “I missed you so much.”

Aioros’ eyes seemed to glow with the moonlight filtering through the open window. Shura felt a knot in his throat as he felt the heat of Aioros’ hand moving over his body.

“I need to leave,” he said, trying to pull himself away.

Aioros pulled him closer “No. Don’t go. Don’t leave me.”

“I need to leave,” repeated Shura, this time making no effort to pull away, letting Aioros press him flush against his chest, their faces so close they could feel each other’s breathing.

The bedroom door opened. “Did they bring you back too Ai-?“ Aioria froze. He blinked once, processing the scene before him. Fury overtook him.

“Lightning Plasma!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find me on twitter as @alexdamien  
> For updates on my writing go to alexdamien.wordpress.com
> 
> Thank you for reading and if you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a comment. It would mean a lot to me.


	21. Chapter 21

Aioria had blown up half of the Sagittarius inner residence, and Shion was not going to let that pass, so he had him scrub the steps of the sanctuary with a toothbrush. Along with Shura, who said nothing when he heard he was punished too and simply resigned himself to his fate.

Aioros wasn’t going to let it go, though, and he stalked them as they washed the steps.

“So this whole thing, it’s something between you two, uh?” he asked them, crouching on the steps above them while they pointedly avoided looking at him.

“Aioros please, just leave us alone,” finally begged Aioria, staring up at him.

Aioros looked into his eyes, then to Shura’s face. “I see it now. The darkness in both of you, it’s the same. Why don’t you tell me already? I’ve been dead and back again, what could be worse?” he asked, sitting down on the steps. They kept silent. “Is it really so awful that I have fallen in love with Shura?”

Shura scoffed. “You don’t know what you’re talking about”

“I could hear you crying out to me all the way to the underworld but I don’t know what I’m talking about? I’m reborn, not stupid,” he reached out to grab Shura’s hair. “And I’m tired of pretending like I don’t know anything.”

Aioria couldn’t stand it anymore. “Stop! Please Aioros, just leave!”

Shura pulled away and lowered his eyes.

After a moment of silence, Aioros stood up and left.

They both kept scrubbing.

They stayed there way past nightfall. Silent. Cold.

Aioria finally lost it and he threw the toothbrush away.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” he cried, his voice choking, his eyes filling with tears. “I never apologized to you. But how- how could I-?”

“It was all my fault,” said Shura in a low voice.

Aioria grabbed the bucket and threw it down the steps. “Fuck your martyrdom. It was me. I…I wanted to hurt you…”

“I know.”

“I _did_ hurt you.”

“That was the point. That’s what I wanted,” said Shura.

“But I-!“ started Aioria, his voice dying in his throat when he remembered what he had done.

* * *

_It was the first party Aioria had been invited to, and he spent it sitting on a stool in a corner. Milo had come to taunt him, but Aphrodite had taken him away. Still, it was overall nice, and he had managed to get himself pleasantly drunk. Almost everything was as good as it could get, except for one thing._

_Shura had spent most of the night glaring at him from wherever he was. His stare was so annoying, Aioria started considering just picking a fight with him and being done with it._

_He looked up and noticed Shura walking towards him, a smirk in his face. He swayed a little with each step, but he had started drinking way earlier than Aioria, so that was no surprise._

_“What?” spat Aioria when Shura was within hearing. Back in the living room, Death Mask and Aphrodite fought over control of the music, and ended up raising the volume so loud, Aioria felt the bass on his chest._

_Shura leaned over him to whisper in his ear. “The resemblance is astounding,” he said._

_Aioria has forgotten a lot about what happened that day. He forgot how they got into the bedroom. He forgot how they had torn each other’s clothes. The more bits and pieces he remembered, the more he fought to forget them._

_But he couldn’t forget the way he had bitten at Shura’s lip when he had kissed him. He couldn’t forget the taste of the blood he drew._

_He forgot the ensuing fight. He forgot how Shura had punched him back and given him the bruises he felt on his face._

_And then he remembered when he grabbed Shura’s legs, pulling him against him to sink into him and making him cry out in pain. It felt good. It felt so good._

_He had laughed._

_He had laughed every time Shura cried out. He had laughed when he made him bleed._

_“It hurts! It hurts, doesn’t it?” he could remember saying, even as tears ran down his face._

_Shura had covered his face, panting, crying out in pain. Aioria grabbed for his neck, choking him with both hands._

_“A-! Aior-“ choked Shura._

_Aioria pushed deeper into him. Closed his hands harder around his throat._

_Shura looked away. Above into the ceiling, as if searching something above._

_“Aior-,” he gasped, and Aioria realized he hadn’t been calling his name._

_His blood ran cold. He screamed, realizing what he was doing. He let go of Shura and pulled out of him._

_He knew he had ran out, but he had no idea how. In his memory there was only the memory of speed. Of running away. Of flinching every time he caught the sight of his own face in a mirror. Of hiding in the house of Leo, crying yet not daring to call for the one he always called out to when he cried._

_He remembered being alone._

_Truly alone._

* * *

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I will regret it until I die, Shura,” kept saying Aioria.

Shura sighed. “That’s a long time. I regret making you do it too. But…that’s a heavy burden to be carrying. For the both of us. We made a mistake…”

“And he’s in love with you now!” cried Aioria, slumping over the steps.

Shura didn’t even want to think about that. If he pretended like there had never been any chance of Aioros loving him, then it wouldn’t hurt so bad when he started hating him, right?

“What do you think he’ll do when we tell him?” he asked.

“We can’t tell him! He’ll never forgive me!” said Aioria. “I brought him back and he became…he- he became whatever he is now. And then if he finds out I- He’ll never forgive me…”

“We can’t hide it forever,” said Shura, trying to be as pragmatic as he could. “He won’t leave it alone Aioria. He trapped me in a labyrinth and _chased me around_. No, he won’t leave it alone.”

“Fine, we’ll tell him, yes. But…but not now. Later...”

Shura nodded and stood up. He reached out a hand to help Aioria stand up too. “Let’s go back home now. Everything will be fine in the end. I promise.”

Aioria wiped at his eyes with the edge of his sleeve. “You shouldn’t be the one comforting me,” he whispered.

Shura said nothing. He only reached out to comb back some of Aioria’s hair away from his face. Crying and lost like that, he looked so much like the child he had been the night Shura had killed his brother.

He wanted to protect him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find me on twitter as @alexdamien  
> For updates on my writing go to alexdamien.wordpress.com
> 
> Thank you for reading and if you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a comment. It would mean a lot to me.


	22. Chapter 22

Aioros knocked on Shura’s back door a couple days later.

“What is it?” grumbled Shura, going to open the door. He felt a headache coming. He felt like he had constant headaches these days.

Aioros grinned at him. He carried a tied up dead boar in his arms.

“Ah, you two aren’t scrubbing the steps anymore. That’s good. Look, look, I got a boar!” 

“That’s…nice,” said Shura, looking down at the way it was dripping blood on the floor he had just moped. He figured that if he hadn’t gone through so much emotional turmoil during the last few days, he might have gotten upset about that. But now, he found he had no energy to muster even one single emotion. “Good job.”

“I know! It’s so cool, right?” he let the boar down to the side, then leaned down and kissed Shura on the lips. Just a peck, and then he pulled back. “Can I use your shower? Aioria blew up mine and I’m tired of bathing in the river,” he asked, and then strolled towards the bathroom without waiting for an answer.

Shura stood frozen on the spot, his heart racing in his heart.

“Do you know how to cook a boar?” asked Aioros from the bathroom. Then he said something more, but between the sound of the shower and the rushing of blood in his head, Shura had no idea what. He looked down at the boar, then went to sit down at the kitchen table. In front of him were his glasses and a half finished mug of coffee.

He looked back at the boar bleeding on his kitchen floor. All he could hear was the sound of the water in the shower. Coffee. Coffee would help him think. He reached for the mug but it slipped from his hands and fell back into the table, splashing coffee all over it and down the table. He saw it all happen detachedly for a moment. Then he placed a hand over his racing heart. It beat so hard it was painful, but his headache was gone. His exhaustion was gone.

Aioros had kissed him and nothing hurt anymore.

Nothing but his heart.

He pulled out his phone. He needed to call Aldebaran. He would know what to do with the boar. And then he would call Aphrodite. He would know what to do with himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find me on twitter as @alexdamien  
> For updates on my writing go to alexdamien.wordpress.com
> 
> Thank you for reading and if you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a comment. It would mean a lot to me.


	23. Chapter 23

Aldebaran wasted no time in skinning the boar and putting it up on a spit, all the way explaining gleefully to Aioros every step he took.

“And once the skin is dry, you can leave it in front of the fireplace. It’s good to catch sparks and extinguish them” he was saying, adjusting the heat of the grill in the backyard.

Aioros listened intently, crouching next to the grill.

Shura watched them from inside the Taurus residence. He had a very vague recollection of what exactly had happened during the last few hours, but he didn’t care. He didn’t care at all.

He went to the table to try and serve himself some water, but he ended up pouring it all over the floor. His hands couldn’t stop shaking.

“What is wrong with you?!” asked Aphrodite, snatching the jug and glass from Shura’s hands. “You look like a goddamn zombie. And your message made no sense. You kissed a boar? What even-? Are you drunk or something?”

“He kissed me”

“The boar?”

“No! Aioros!”

Aphrodite gasped. “What?!”

“This morning. He just…He just did. He’s been pretending he didn’t know what I felt for him, but he knew. He knew it better than I did. He knew it all the time and he just kissed me.”

Aphrodite sat him down in a couch and brought him a cup of coffee.

“Ok, breathe, are you really sure-?”

“Completely sure. One hundred percent. He said it.”

Aphrodite patted his hand. “Yes, but he also says a lot of weird shit and he just brought you a dead boar. Like a cat or something. Like a goddamn cat,” he said, then grabbed Shura’s face with both hands. “Look at me. Keep calm, and make sure he is in his right mind first. Are you listening to me? Shura? Are you listening?”

“Is he ok?” asked Aioros, making them both jump. Shura almost spilled his entire coffee cup all over himself.

“He’s _fine,”_ said Aphrodite, letting go of Shura. _“_ Aioria come get your brother.”

Aioria sauntered over and Aioros turned towards him. “Shura’s not feeling right, maybe I should bring him to the house of Capricorn,” he said.

Hearing this, Shura snapped out of his daze. “I’m fine. I’m fine. I’m just tired and Aphrodite got me some coffee.”

Aioria, for once in his life sensing the mood, pulled Aioros away and took him back out to the yard.

“Well, that was spooky,” said Aphrodite. “He didn’t have that weird, intense stare when he was a kid.”

“I know,” said Shura, and took a sip from his coffee.

“Is it like, that whole being-dead-for-too-long thing, or is…?“

“I don’t know.”

“Is his soul still going out of his body and hanging around and shit?”

“I think so. Athena said it might last years”

“Years? Good gods. And you still love him?”

Shura sighed. “I don’t think I could stop loving him. Even when he starts hating me, I think I’ll still love him.”

Aphrodite stared at him. “What…why would he…?”

“I had sex with Aioria”

Aphrodite covered his face. “No. No, you didn’t. Oh, Gods in Olympus. And here I thought I made wrong decisions. When?”

“Years ago. Remember the first party you threw at your-“

Aphrodite held up a hand. “I know. I remember,” he said, and stared at Shura again, searching for the rest of the story in his eyes, piecing everything that had happened in his mind. “Gods almighty, what have you done?...It wasn’t just sex, right?. It was punishment. That’s why you’ve been going insane now that he’s back, isn’t it?”

Shura slouched. “He’ll hate me. He kissed me and now he’ll hate me forever.”

They both looked out at the yard where Aioros and Aioria were chatting with Aldebaran.

“Who knows? He just might, or he might not. He’s the only one who knows what forever looks like.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find me on twitter as @alexdamien  
> For updates on my writing go to alexdamien.wordpress.com
> 
> Thank you for reading and if you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a comment. It would mean a lot to me.


	24. Chapter 24

Kanon sat fishing at the pier when Aioros arrived to sit down next to him.

“Hey. So, you’re back,” said Aioros. He set down a vase between him and Kanon, and had a small slingshot in his hand.

“We were all back long before Athena brought _you_ back,” replied Kanon, not bothering to turn to look at him.

“I know. It’s just that I haven’t seen you around,” said Aioros, fiddling with the slingshot and fitting on it some kind of dart. Kanon shrugged. “I thought you two would be going to the Halloween party”

“We did. They had dragged your exorcised ass out by the time we arrived.”

“Oh, right…that. Sorry,” said Aioros. He lifted up the slingshot towards the waters and fired. Kanon noticed that the dart had a line tied to it. Aioros pulled on it and pulled a speared fish out of the water. He put it inside of the small vase he had set down.

Kanon watched him fiddle with the slighshot again. “Does that happen often?” he finally asked.

“What?”

“Getting possessed by spirits? You know, like Saga”

Aioros shrugged. “Not really. I guard my body pretty well. They just used a moment when I was…distracted.” He fired again, and pulled another fish from the water. “Strong emotions make it harder to keep my soul in my body, so I try to keep calm.”

Kanon smirked. “Uh, better not make you angry then? Saga said something like that. That it’s easier for…something else to get into you when you’re upset.”

“Yeah, but not much makes me angry anymore. It’s hard to be upset at stuff when you’ve already gotten murdered, you know?”

Kanon waved dismissively at him. “I know, I know,” he said. He got up from the pier, pulling up his own fish, then he turned to leave.

“Are you going back to Gemini?” asked Aioros, aiming again.

“No.”

“Ok. Is Rhadamanthys back yet? If he is, tell him I said hi,” he said, and fired again.

Kanon halted in his step. Aioros pulled another fish from the sea.

“Don’t tell Saga,” muttered Kanon through gritted teeth. He turned around to glare at Aioros

“I won’t,” said Aioros, putting the fish in the vase. It was too full now.

“How did you find out?”

Aioros turned around and stuck out his tongue at him. “Wouldn’t you love to know?”

Kanon rolled his eyes at him. “Just don’t tell Saga.”

“How has Saga been? I think I saw him a while ago but…I don’t remember much about the first few days I was back.”

“He’s fine. Doesn’t go out much. Still kind of playing the victim, you know how he is.”

Aioros laughed. “I know.”

“Hey, you’re not as weird as the others say.”

“Maybe it’s just that I’m not as weird as Saga used to be?”

“You got a point there”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find me on twitter as @alexdamien  
> For updates on my writing go to alexdamien.wordpress.com
> 
> Thank you for reading and if you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a comment. It would mean a lot to me.


	25. Chapter 25

After leaving Kanon, Aioros carried his vase full of fish to the house of Gemini. He walked for a while towards the inner chambers, taking a turn left, then a turn right, then through a long, dimly lit hallway, until he got fed up with it all.

“Are you really not going to invite me in, Saga? That’s too rude,” he called out to the darkness.

Footsteps echoed in front of him and Saga emerged from the shadows. He was dressed the same way he used to when they were children, unlike the others who had adapted to the clothes of this age. Aioros noticed he seemed much paler than Kanon.

“Sorry,” said Saga, waving a hand to the space between them. A table full of coffee and pastries appeared. “Please take a seat.”

Aioros sat down across from Saga. He kept his vase in his lap as he inspected the food offered, then he looked up. The dark space around them seemed so much greater than before.

“Sorry,” said Aioros. “I can’t eat any of this. But I brought fish. I could cook it for you if you let me use your kitchen. Aldebaran gave me a really good recipe.”

Saga stared at him from over the rim of his coffee cup, and Aioros could see that he was thinking up a way to refuse. He rolled his eyes and huffed.

“Fine, then no.”

“I’m sorry. I don't have a residence. And Gemini hasn’t been in the best state lately... Since Kanon left.”

“I know.”

“You’ve seen him?”

“He was at the pier.”

Saga gave a vague noise of assent. Aioros saw a heavy sadness growing in Saga’s eyes. The same sadness tinged with nostalgia that seemed to permeate every part of the house of Gemini. An oppressive feeling of being observed and trapped mixed with a yearning for freedom.

“You came back the same. Your body was barely cold when you were brought back, and your brother was brought back along with you. What are you all sad about?” he said, resentment growing in his heart. Saga had gotten everything in the end, while Aioros struggled to adapt to life and had to see sadness in his brother's eyes whenever he looked at what Aioros was now. So what right did he have to be sad?

Saga did not react to his outburst. He merely served himself more coffee, and only spoke after a long moment.

“You look the same as I did back then, with the darkness possessing me,” he said. “I see you and I see the same eyes that looked back at me in the mirror. Eyes that were not mine.”

“And whose fault is that?!” yelled Aioros, standing up. “The others don’t know, but I know. I saw it all in death. It was your jealousy that let it take control of you!”

“Yes, I felt jealous!” yelled Saga, standing up too. “Yes, I’m not perfect. I’m not a god! It was bound to happen then or at any other time because I’m just human! Stop acting like you don’t know how it is to be human!”

“But I don’t! I don’t remember! I can’t sleep, I can’t eat, I can’t feel!” yelled Aioros and slammed the vase on the floor.

“Aioros…”

The echo of the vase breaking snapped Aioros out of his rage. He felt nauseous, dizzy. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry, you’re right,” he said, kneeling down to pick the broken pieces. “I’m just…taking out my pain in you. I haven’t been feeling well. I think I’m getting sick or something.”

Saga grabbed his wrist. “You should go see Athena”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahh, the interactions between Aioros and Saga are so difficult to write. I feel like a lot of people give up on writing Aioros, setting him as being either purely good or purely bad, and not giving him any complexity of emotions. I tried to do that here, by showing him as someone who is trying to so hard to be good and happy, but there are still a lot of dark emotions that he has to deal with. I hope I did it right.
> 
> You can find me on twitter as @alexdamien  
> For updates on my writing go to alexdamien.wordpress.com
> 
> Thank you for reading and if you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a comment. It would mean a lot to me.


	26. Chapter 26

Seiya paced in front of Athena’s throne when Aioros arrived to see her that night.

“I just want to see her. Just let me speak with Saori for a moment,” he asked.

Athena dismissed his request with a wave of her hand. “I will let you see her soon. She’s still here. She can hear you. But…not now,” She looked beyond Seiya, to where Aioros stood at the entrance. “Aioros, please come in. I have been waiting for you.”

Aioros walked in and kneeled before the goddess.

Seiya left.

“You waited for me, Athena?” asked Aioros

Athena stood from the throne and walked down the stairs, the clicking of her shoes on the floor echoing in the hall.

“I knew you were coming to see me,” she said. “Come, let’s sit in the balcony.”

She led him to the side, the curtains parting before her. Aioros noticed he now saw something different about her. A slight glow to her hair, a lighter fall to her steps. He let his soul drift away from his body, his spirit becoming just diffuse enough to see the merging of the spirit world with the physical world.

The glow to her hair became pure light, a great form of pure energy contained into a single vessel. Aioros could not stare at her for too long, and he pulled himself back completely into his body. It felt like falling from a tree and he stumbled.

“Careful,” said Athena, taking a seat at the table in the balcony. “It can be painful to look so closely into the heavens.”

“Apologies,” he said with a bow.

“None needed. Please sit down and tell me what is on your mind. Sadly I don’t have anything I can offer you. Water?”

Aioros nodded. “Water is fine, thank you,” he said, and saw her pouring a glass for him with her same floating touch, and the same glow of light to her. He noticed in her the same act he put up for others. Pretending to the greatest extent that there was really no difference between her and any other human. Acting out the part of being the same as anyone else.

And failing.

“It wasn’t right to bring me back,” finally said Aioros. 

“You feel that way?”

“I’m not the same, and I can’t be what the others want me to be. It’s hard enough as it is to be fully human again. Even Aioria regrets bringing me back.”

“Well, that’s not true,” she said with a sigh and a shake of her head.

“But I keep thinking…you had to have known that this was all a terrible idea. That this could only end badly. But if you gave the choice to Aioria, what else would he have chosen but to bring me back?” said Aioros, thinking back to all the choices of all the people who had brought him to this moment. “So, I was wondering…Why? What is it that you need me to do?”

Athena reached across the table and grabbed his hand, giving him a sad smile. “I needed you to be back. Aioros, won’t you make one last sacrifice for me? I need you to suffer just a little more.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find me on twitter as @alexdamien  
> For updates on my writing go to alexdamien.wordpress.com
> 
> Thank you for reading and if you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a comment. It would mean a lot to me.


	27. Chapter 27

There had been several murders in the town. A very suspicious amount of them, in fact.

Athena said it was ghosts, and she wanted them gone as soon as possible.

“I never heard of no ghost shanking people in dark alleys,” said Aioria, while he messaged with Aphrodite’s team of Death Mask and Milo, who had started their search for the ghost on the other side of the town. After all, when Athena said as soon as possible, it meant you were already late.

“If it possesses someone, it can shank people, of course,” said Aioros, matter of factly.

Shura rubbed his temple and adjusted his civilian clothes. They were posing as commoners now, and hoping that the ghost was stupid enough to try and attack them.

“Let’s separate and try to cover a greater area. You both got your signals?” he asked. Aioria and Aioros lifted up their flares. “Good. Let’s regroup here in twenty minutes.”

Aioria jogged off, but Aioros didn’t move. Shura lifted an eyebrow at him. “What is it?”

Aioros grabbed his shirt, pulled him against him, and tried to give him a peckon the lips. Shura’s heart jumped and he moved away so that Aioros’ lips only touched the side of his mouth.

“F-focus!” hissed Shura, feeling his face go red.

Aioros stuck out his tongue at him and jogged off.

* * *

Aioros was done looking in ten minutes. There were a lot of ghosts and random spirits around, an astounding number in fact, but nothing strong enough to possess a person with enough rage to get them to kill. You needed a lot of anger an resentment concentrated in a single spirit for it to be able to do it and all he felt were waves of resentment floating around. Constantly. It reminded him of the sound of the ocean from the afternoon when he had met up with Kanon. The anger and the resentment were settled over the town, ebbing and flowing all around like waves.

He decided to go back already.

He could hear Shura’s voice speaking to Aioria before he reached the corner.

“Have you found anything?” asked Shura, then there was a pause. Aioros stopped to lean against the wall and adjust his boot. “What’s wrong?”

Aioria sounded out of breath when he spoke. “I just…I wish we hadn’t been sent together.”

“It’s fine, this shouldn’t take too long.”

“I just want to be done and go. I can’t…It makes me so anxious, to have him look at me. But it’s me. It’s all in my head,” said Aioria, his voice verging on hysterical.

“Just hold on”

“I should tell him now”

“Aioria this is really not a good moment!”

“Will there be a good moment to tell him I raped you?”

“Definitely not now! Focus!”

The world tilted for Aioros. He fell against the wall, trying to hold on to it. The wind rustling through the streets swept over him, icy as it covered his skin.

“That wasn’t-,” suddenly said Shura. “You didn’t…What you did to me, I led you to do it…”

The wind picked up. Aioros stumbled forward, his sight blurring. He no longer felt the cold, or the wind.

Shura and Aioria whirled around to see him.

A part of Aioros wanted to scream. But he couldn’t. He couldn’t speak.

“A-Aioros,” said Aioria, giving a couple steps towards him, then stopping.

“Aioros, let us explain,” said Shura.

A red flare went up in the sky from the other side of the town and they looked up at it. When they looked back, Aioros had vanished.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find me on twitter as @alexdamien  
> For updates on my writing go to alexdamien.wordpress.com
> 
> Thank you for reading and if you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a comment. It would mean a lot to me.


	28. Chapter 28

“Shit, this is why I hate children,” said Milo, holding his wounded side where the ghost possessing a small child had stabbed him.

“You want to stay back?” asked Aphrodite, running ahead of him.

“Nah, I’m fine.”

They cornered the child on an alley. Death Mask caught up to him first and held up his finger, starting to summon the infernal waves. “It’s time to go back home,” he said. “You don’t belong here anymore.”

The child lifted the knife in his hand and slit his own throat. Above them, the feeling of dread that seemed to cover the town heightened. Like a pressure in the air weighing down on them.

“What the fuck, Death Mask!” yelled Milo, rushing to check the child’s body, but the wound was too big. He had bled out within seconds, gasping for air and choking on his own blood. “You couldn’t exorcise him faster?!”

“I did! The first one was gone, but then another swept in just to kill him. Shit, this isn’t just one damn ghost,” his hair turned white and his eyes red. “There are dozens around us. Everywhere. Fuck this, I’m just gonna start exorcising everything and innocent souls be damned.”

Aphrodite pointed to the entrance of the alley, where a woman stood, a knife in each hand. “Start with that one!”

She ran away and they both ran after her.

Milo set down the boy’s body, took off his coat and laid it over him. Someone walked into the alley and he looked up.

Aioros stumbled forward.

“Hey man, are you ok? Where are the others?” asked Milo and jogged up to him. Another red flare lit up the sky a few blocks away.

“I don’t know,” said Aioros.

Milo noticed the trails of drying tears down his cheek, the unfocused stare. “What happened?”

Aioros shook his head and hunched in on himself, covering his chest.

“Did one of them get to you too? I got stabbed by one of the little bastards. They’re possessing anything that moves, it seems.”

Aioros shook his head. Voices and footsteps echoed on the streets around them and Milo looked up to see five people staring at him. Fire sets of unfocused, blank stares.

Behind them arrived Shura and Aioria.

“Are all of them possessed? Is that even possible?” asked Shura, running towards the throng of people. He saw Aioros and froze.

“I think they are,” said Milo. “Aioros do you see anything?”

Aioros covered his chest even more and fell to the ground.

Aphrodite came crashing through a building overhead and fell into the wall of the alley. “I hate ghosts! I hate them!” he yelled, stepping out of the debris of the hole in the wall where he had crashed. “You give them an inch and they grab a foot. Literally!”

The wall collapsed over him, taking with it half of the building, crashing against the house next to it and falling over Milo and Aioros. Shura ran towards them, slashing at the boulders. Milo destroyed the rest of the debris while shielding Aioros.

“This is becoming a nuisance,” said Milo, wiping at the side of his face where a rock had hit him.

Shura knelt down next to Aioros. “What happened to you?”

Aioria came running. “There’s dozens! All over the town!” he yelled.

From a street away came Death Mask’s voice. “I’m exorcising as fast as I can! You have no idea how many you can’t see!”

Shura got no response from Aioros. “Milo what happened to him?!”

“He’s off somehow, I don’t know. Leave him there, he’s not hurt,” said Milo, jumping over the debris towards the people stumbling . “I’ll paralyze them for a while until we can deal with them!”

Shura stood up. “Don’t move,” he told Aioros.

Aioros reached out to pull him back. “No. Don’t go. Don’t leave me,” gasped Aioros.

Aioria ran up to them. “Is he hurt? A-Aioros, I-“

Shura pulled him away. “He’s not hurt. The presence of the ghosts might be affecting him. Let’s get rid of them so we can take him back to the sanctuary.”

They left him.

Aioros saw them leave. “No…,” he gasped, already losing so much control over his body, he could barely hold his head up. All over him, heavy presences pulled at him, tearing his spirit until he felt diffuse. Weightless. “Only you never let me go. Don’t…don’t leave me… alone…”

His vision blurred again, tears filling his eyes. He gasped for breath, but he had stopped feeling the air entering his lungs. He gritted his teeth. He felt angry. Betrayed.

Resentful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find me on twitter as @alexdamien  
> For updates on my writing go to alexdamien.wordpress.com
> 
> Thank you for reading and if you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a comment. It would mean a lot to me.


	29. Chapter 29

Aphrodite had managed to tie up a dozen of possessed people with his vines, while Milo had paralyzed the rest. But Death Mask had kept the Infernal Waves going for a long time, and it was starting to exhaust him.

“I think you guys should bring Shaka,” he said, dropping to one knee. “Or I’m never going to finish.”

“I’ll take Aioros back and tell Shaka to come,” said Shura, turning around. Aioros was gone. “Where did he go?”

Death Mask lowered his arm. “I think they’re leaving,” he said, looking up.

“What do you mean leaving? Leaving where?” asked Aphrodite.

Death Mask looked around, then at the sky. “Ah, fuck. Of course. Of course they pulled this shit,” he said, facepalming. He turned and pointed to the roof of a great building a couple blocks away.

On top of it stood Aioros, a darkness swirling around him and even the air weighed heavier as they looked at him.

“Oh, Gods, they got him,” said Aphrodite, then punched Death Mask lightly on the arm. “What are you waiting for?! Get exorcising!”

Death Mask took a deep breath and looked up at Aioros. “You should really go get Shaka, Dite,” he said, and teleported next to Aioros. Thunder hit his exact spot, but he teleported to the other side of the roof.

“You’re such a pain in the ass,” said Death Mask. “Where did you all come from? Get out of there or I’ll throw you all deeper than Yomotsu!”

Another thunder almost hit him, falling so close it singed his hair. Aioria climbed up the building and held Aioros back from behind.

“Aioros, can you hear me?” he asked. Aioros growled, the power of the spirits above them swirling around him and into him. Aioria held him harder. “Aioros, please, I know you can hear me!”

Thunder roared overhead. Death Mask concentrated all his power on strengthening the pull of the underworld at the Spirits, drawing them away from Aioros.

Thunder struck the building, crumbling it beneath them. Aioria tried to hold on to Aioros, but a falling boulder separated them and he was buried in the debris. Aioros pushed himself up and found himself wrapped by Aphrodite’s vines. Thunder fell all around them, Aphrodite dodging them while Milo dug Aioria out of the debris. Death Mask shook his head and jumped back up. The wind picked up, roaring around them.

“That’s it! I didn’t want to take him back there, but we’re fixing this in the underworld!” he said, lifting his hand again.

Aioros crushed the vines around him, waved a hand and dozens of thunder arrows shot at Death Mask. Aioria tackled him down and tried to hold him down.

“Aioros, please, I know you’re in there!” he cried.

Aioros gasped for breath. He looked up at him and tears flowed down his eyes. The dark clouds overhead swirled in a black spiral.

“Why?” cried Aioros, writing under Aioria as if in pain. “WHY?!” he yelled and threw him off. He stumbled to the side, holding his head. The dark energy around him spiked. The darkness weighed heavier. Thunder struck all around. Blinding. Burning. It struck Aioros.

And he was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find me on twitter as @alexdamien  
> For updates on my writing go to alexdamien.wordpress.com
> 
> Thank you for reading and if you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a comment. It would mean a lot to me.


	30. Chapter 30

From the steps of the sanctuary, Athena saw the darkness congregating over the town of Rodorrio.

“Here he comes. He’s brought them with him,” she said, walking down the steps.

Next to her, Shaka sighed. “A body only barely tied to a soul. Quite the temptation for any resentful spirit.”

“I didn’t expect him to lose control so fast. The human heart is truly a mystery,” she said.

Shura stepped out of the shadows. “So we weren’t all sent to catch the ghost. We were sent to contain Aioros,” he said, clenching his fists.

“I needed him to attract the spirits of resentment that escaped the underworld. Now that Hades and his Judges are gone, too many have escaped. Before I seal the gates of the underworld, they had to be brought back to a single place,” said Athena, walking towards the house of Sagittarius.

Shura thought back to everything that had happened. The weakness, the confusion, the fight at the Halloween party. “So _that_ is why he was so confused. He was brought back as a decoy. A vessel to be possessed by all the resentment that escaped the underworld.”

“If there was anyone who could endure them it was Aioros,” said Athena. “He had the purest heart. Only he could control them.”

Saga already waited for them when they arrived at Sagitarius. He nodded when he heard Athena’s words.

“But if he can’t control them,” he said. “We would be fighting one of the strongest amongst us.”

The others arrived, Aioria running ahead of them.

“If he cannot control them,” said Athena. “Then I’ll have to destroy his body and seal him with them in the underworld. But with the gate closed, no souls can return anymore”

“Aioros?” asked Aioria. “No. He can control them. He- He’ll be fine.”

Overhead, the dark energy of the spirits swirled into a spiral above the house of Sagittarius. Aioros stepped out wearing the Sagittarius cloth. The shadows projected around him shifted and twisted, hundreds of shadowy hands reaching out to the heavens, to the earth…

“Brother! You have to fight against them!” cried Aioria.

Around Aioros, the shadows solidified into a circle of arrows spinning around him. They flew out towards Aioria, hitting the ground before him and exploding. Shura pushed him away from the arrows. Milo tried to use scarlet needle, but more arrows fell over him. He moved to run, but a shield of ice formed above him. Milo looked behind him. “Took you long enough to get here,” he grumbled.

“You said you would be back by dinner,” said Camus, walking towards them. Once next to Milo he reached out and wiped a trail of blood from Milo’s split lip with his thumb.

“We might still make it. Let’s make him come to his senses,” said Milo

On the back, Shaka approached chanting sutras, while Mu standing ahead protected him with the crystal wall. Aioros stumbled backwards upon hearing his voice. Milo jumped forward and used restriction on him, while Camus froze his legs to the ground. Aioros covered his ears. The formation of the black spiral above shifted, the energies agitated. Athena raised her staff. The ground shook, and broke apart.

From underneath Aioros the ground crumbled, and he floated in midair, sustained by the tendrils of darkness like a puppet.

“Shit, constraining him is doing no good. It’s all those damn things inside him,” muttered Milo.

“Watch it!” yelled Aphrodite, as hundreds of black arrows shot down at them. He sent out his roses and intercepted the first wave. The ground rumbled and a greater wave of arrows shot down.

“Protect Athena!” yelled Shaka. Mu teleported himself to Athena’s side and came face to face with Airos.

“Wha-?!”

Aioros punched him in the face, throwing him away and down the stairs of the house of Sagittarius.

Saga took the place of Mu in a second, kicking Aioros down into a hole on the ground. “That’s enough. I’ll destroy those spirits and then we’ll deal with him. Galaxian Explosion!”

“Why is that his answer to fucking _everything_!” yelled Milo, dropping to the ground and taking cover from the explosion. Camus crouched next to him, raising a shield of ice in front of them. Milo scoffed. “Trying so hard to protect me, what’s gotten into you?”

“You’re hurt,” said Camus, not bothering to look at him. As he embraced him, the fingers of his right hand ghosted over Milo’s stab wound, icy cold to numb the pain.

Aioria kneeled down next to Aioros on the ground. “Aioros? Aioros?” he said, trying to shake him.

The black spiral overhead expanded, covering the sky, the shadows descending like tendrils all over them. They wrapped around Shaka, strangling him and cutting off his chanting. The galaxian explosion roared overhead, the energy of the explosion roaring.

On the ground, Aioros laughed. His voice laced with the echo of thousands of voices. Galaxies exploded on the sky, the force of the explosion fading, as if the power of it were being led away, to a place impossibly far.

“What is this?!” asked Saga, seeing the explosion fading to nothing.

“They are widening the gate to the underworld, ripping the barrier between the worlds right here,” said Athena, stepping forth. “The underworld is endless, making galaxies seem like no more than a grain of sand,” she lifted her staff and the movement of the shadows halted. “Go back!” The light from her staff illuminated cracks in the air around them, forcing the shadows to retreat, reducing the breaks in the barrier.

Aioros floated up, lifted by the same tendrils of darkness that now crawled all over the ground. Aioria pulled him back, but the darkness spread down, burning his hands.

“No! Aioros! Aioros please stop!” he cried, tears rolling down his eyes.

“Athe…na…,” whispered Aioros, the voices of the spirits around him wailing at the name.

Athena stepped forward “Aioros, please. You said, you would suffer for me with all your strength. You must hold on!” she said.

Tears flowed down Aioros’ cheeks. “Athena this is…the end…,” he teleported himself to the space in front of her, taking Saga down with a single punch. “of my strength,” he said, and snatched away the staff in her hands. He teleported himself back to the entrance of Sagittarius and disappeared inside.

Outside, the world fell apart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find me on twitter as @alexdamien  
> For updates on my writing go to alexdamien.wordpress.com
> 
> Thank you for reading and if you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a comment. It would mean a lot to me.


	31. Chapter 31

From the shore, Kanon looked out at the darkness surrounding the sanctuary. Laying on the sand next to him, Radamanthys pointedly _didn’t._

“If you had anything to do with this, I’m kicking your ass”

“That wasn’t me. But what did you expect to happen, leaving the underworld to it’s own devices? No judges and no kings and no one to guard the gate between the worlds. We had actual jobs, you know?”

“Let’s go.”

“Hell no.”

“You’re coming on your own two feet, or I’m dragging you there kicking and screaming.”

Radamanthys muttered a litany of curses as he followed Kanon to the Sanctuary.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rhadamanthys: We had jobs Kanon. It's not like our full time job was "evil villain".  
> Kanon: Could have fooled me, to be honest.
> 
> Heheheh...
> 
> You can find me on twitter as @alexdamien  
> For updates on my writing go to alexdamien.wordpress.com
> 
> Thank you for reading and if you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a comment. It would mean a lot to me.


	32. Chapter 32

The air cracked, pieces of land appearing in the middle of nothing, shattering ground into nothing, nothing into everything, the ground melting, the air tensing, stretching, weighing heavier.

Shura grabbed Shaka, pulled him up and threw him over his shoulder. “Come,” he said, running up into the Sagittarius house. “You’re going to exorcise every single ghost in him. I’m not losing him again.”

Aioria chased after them a couple steps behind, but as soon as he crossed the threshold of the entrance, he felt himself falling down a steep hill. All around him, the sound of waterfalls hit his ears as he rolled down, struggling to recover under the heavy pressure of something weighing down all around him.

He rolled to a stop and hit against a rock that froze his back when he hit against it. With a gasp, he jumped to his feet. Far around him he could see waterfalls opening up in midair and landing into the shadows. A whisper of voices echoing from among the noise of water hissed all around, and the breeze from them felt icy over his arms, sending shivers down his back. He turned away from them and looked at the rock he had rolled against.

His own face stared back at him and he jumped back away from it. A second glance revealed the rock was made of a reflective material, icy cold to the touch. Aioria let himself stare at his own face for the first time in what felt like years.

“I’ve…really done it this time, uh?” he asked his own reflection. It spoke the same words back at him. Aioria reached out to it. It reached back to him. The cold of the stone seeped through his arm. “Aioros…he…he’s suffering so much,” he said to his reflection, remembering the look of anger and pain on his brother’s face when they had fought. His reflection repeated the same words back at him. Aioria reached out with his other hand. His reflection reached out too. He realized that he still found the sight of his own face disgusting.

Their fingers entwined. The cold enveloped him, pressing deeper into him. Deeper into his chest.

 _“But I just had to bring him back!”_ said his reflection, an echo of Aioria’s thoughts.

 _“I didn’t want to hurt him!”_ said the reflection, his own voice resonating inside Aioria’s head.

_“I didn’t care that he would be hurt! I didn’t care about anything! I just wanted him back! I wanted everything back! I wanted-“_

His reflection cracked, and his voice broke, but his reflection didn’t let go of him.

“What the fuck are you doing?!” yelled Milo, hitting the rock with Antares again. Its surface cracked again, but it wouldn’t break.

Aioria stared at him, not fully understanding what he meant. Milo kicked him in the stomach and Aioria let go of his reflection. The sound of waterfalls and the roaring wind all around came back into his senses and he realized he was cold. So cold. He couldn’t breathe. The rock vibrated. The image inside it reaching out again, with the dozen reflections on its surface reaching out to Aioria. Milo dragged him away from it.

“Can you hear me? Aioria, can you hear me?” asked milo. The ground rumbled and parted. Cracks in it opening up.

Aioria gasped for breath, returning to his senses. “Yes, what- What happened?!”

“You tell me! That damn rock was over there trying to eat you and you just fucking stood there. Gods, this place is horrible. To think we’re gonna end up here…Get up! I’m not carrying you!”

Aioria pushed himself up to stand and give a couple steps, but he ended up collapsing into Milo.

“Ugh, sorry,” he said, pushing himself off Milo

“You know what? Maybe you should sit down for a moment.”

“No, I’m fine.”

Milo shoved him to the ground and stood in front of him. “Stay there!”

Aioria groaned when he hit the ground and his vision blurred for a moment.

“Milo, what the f-,” Aioria saw his own hands on the ground and felt an icy dread run down his spine. His skin had turned white. Paper white.

In front of them, the stone moved, shifting, melting down into the ground and into the cracks. From within it rose a figure dripping with the reflective liquid of the stone.

Milo shifted his stance, retreating away from the liquid on the ground.

“This thing got you,” said Milo, retreating yet another step. “You got any idea what this is?”

Aioria held his head. Somehow, Milo’s voice sounded hollow to his ears.

“Hmmm? Uh, no…?” he mumbled. “Milo…Milo what happened to me?”

The figure from the stone approached, growing more defined with every step. An exact copy of Aioria.

Milo said nothing and released Antares on the copy. It fractured and cracked in all the places he hit, but wouldn’t back down. Milo took another step back, holding his own hand.

“This…This is no good…,” he said, looking at his hand. It hung limp, and cold, and deathly white.

The figure raised it’s hand, the red light of Antares shining on it.

A vibration filled the air and the copy halted, the cracked surface fracturing even more. Death Mask jumped down from some of the rocks floating above and punched back the copy. Around him, the infernal waves caused the whispers from the voices of the waterfalls to cry out in shrill voices. The ground opened up and swallowed the copy.

“That was close!” he said, scratching his head. When he turned around, Milo saw he had scratches and bruises on his face, and he panted as if out of breath.

“What the hell was that thing?!” yelled Milo.

Death Mask shrugged. “Hell, I think.”

“What?”

“Like, that was actual hell. The underworld and the physical world don’t really agree on the whole three dimensional existence thing. I think Hades sort of forced it into something more structured when he was here, but now it’s all just a mess. Things that should be empty space now have forms, and things that _should_ have physical forms are losing them. It’s giving me a damn headache. We’ve got to find Aioros quick.”

Aioria pushed himself up. “Aioros…where is he? A-Aioros...”

Milo helped him to stay upright and Death Mask examined him.

“What happened to him? He’s…He’s all…white. Like that thing drained all the color from him,” asked Milo.

“Yeah. It’s like Aioros said. Oh, wait, you weren’t there. When you get too deep into hell and stay there too long, hell itself starts echoing yourself back to you. Your memories, feelings, everything. I think that piece of hell sort of drained him of everything and the way it echoed it all back at him was by making that weird copy. Aioria. Hey, Aioria, how do you feel?” Death Mask asked, pulling Aioria’s face up to look at him more carefully.

Aioria’s eyes seemed unfocused, as if he saw past Death Mask at a place off in the distance. “I’m fine,” he said.

“Aioria, you have never been less fine. For real,” said Milo. He crouched and with the help of Death Mask, carried Aioria on his back. “Let’s go. If your brother becomes the new Hades, I’m gonna be pissed.”

“He won’t,” said Aioria.


	33. Chapter 33

Camus had gotten separated from Milo as soon as they stepped into the Sagittarius house. He cursed himself for not having held Milo’s hand, when he knew that the world and fallen upside down all around them. He hurried forward through the only way he could see, but he kept having the eerie feeling that he was somehow running backwards.

It did not help that he could see up in the air around him waterfalls that fell up.

Ahead of him, further away, he could see the golden glow of something, but he couldn’t identify it. He ran faster, then halted. Aioros appeared right in front of him, looking at him like a stranger and holding Athena’s staff in one hand. The power emanating from him making the ground rumble underneath him.

“Aioros, this is only for your own good,” he said, preparing to perform an Aurora Execution.

Aioros smiled at him with a strange smile. Soft. Kind. Familiar. “Camus, you found me,” he said, with the echo of a different voice entwining with his own. His hair turned red and Camus froze in place.

“S-Simone,” he said, recognizing that same smile he had last seen as a child. It had never left his mind. He had seen it countless nights in his nightmares. Surt’s sister.

Aioros extended a hand out to him. “Come, come be with us. There is no more pain in death. You think of us and we think of you. I’ve missed you so much. Come, let’s stay together!”

Camus swallowed around the sudden knot in his throat. “Simone, please…let go of him…,” he begged.

Simone giggled, and Camus could only see the shadow of her hiding within Aioros, looking back at him with mischievous eyes, lifting her hand to her mouth in the same way that she used to do when they played as children. “I’ve waited. How I’ve waited, to see you again. To see my brother again. I can feel everyone being drawn closer,” a chorus of voices intertwined with her. Children, women, men. They cackled, their voices raising from within Aioros. “How I’ve yearned for this day! How I’ve feared for this day!”

Camus raised his arms, feeling his blood cooling, his mind clearing until there was nothing more. No more to life or to love. For a heartbeat, he stood at the edge where heart and soul halted, freezing. “Aurora Execution!”

The world around them froze over, halting, cracking as ice took over. Then it tilted, and fell apart.

They fell, Camus trying to reach for Aioros’ unmoving form as they fell through the shifting emptiness around them. Camus reached to hold Aioros’ hand, then looked around for something -anything- to hold on to. Anything to stop this endless fall.

Aioros grabbed back, and Camus shifted his attention completely to him.

They crashed into an icy ocean. Aioros grabbed at Camus’ wrist with an iron hold and pulled him closer to him. The waters faded away the red of his hair, leaving it a pale, golden blonde. He gave Camus a sad smile.

“Ah, you sent me so far from Hyoga,” he said, not needing to breathe anymore. His voice seemed to reach Camus in vibrations that hit him to the core, as if the sound came from within Camus’ chest, from within his own head. Camus realized who he was facing now, and he struggled to pull away. “He rarely speaks to me anymore. I’ve wanted to hear him again so much,” said Hyoga’s mother. “Tell him that I still hear him. I am never far, even if I am no longer close.”

She grabbed his arm, spun him around underwater, then threw him away, sending Camus flying out of the waters. Camus took a breath of fresh air before he fell back down. He froze himself a slab of ice to pull himself out and coughed, his heart racing at the vision of what he had seen. Something grabbed at his ankle from within the waters.

“Where is my brother, Camus? Where is my family?” asked Simone, once more in control of Aioros’ body.

“Simone, stop. They are alive.”

Simone pulled him down. The slab of ice tilted. “I want my family!” she cried, once more the cacophony of voices crying along with her. Thousands of children. Hundreds of children calling for their families. Tears fell down Aioros’ cheeks, the pain of a wave of dying children concentrated all in him. Camus felt the sadness of them within him. “I am alone! I’m so alone!”

“Simone, no, Surt has never…He has never forgotten you,” said Camus, sliding off from the ice slab. “I’ve never forgotten you. I offered my life to Surt, but it was…it was not enough,” he said, another knot forming in his throat, strangling him just from the thought of having to tell Simone how her death had also killed Surt inside.

Mio fell from the sky and kicked Aioros in the face, sending him to sink in the icy waters. He backflipped towards the ice slab and pulled Camus out of the waters.

“I’m sure you two were having a nice chat and she made dying seem like a great idea, but need I remind you we still need to save the world?” he said, sarcasm dripping from every word.

Camus blinked, feeling as if he was snapping out of a trance. He saw the fire of true anger glittering in Milo’s eyes, behind his sharp grin. Camus reached out to hold his hand.

“Milo, I…”

“Let’s go, Death Mask and Aioria are still stuck in those platforms up there!”

Camus embraced him. “I’m sorry. I failed you again.”

Milo relaxed in his arm. “Idiot,” he said, returning the hug. “Who was that? Who did you see?”

“Surt’s sister”

“Mhm. I guessed so,” he said, and boped him in in the noise. “It’s called sadness. It’s a thing humans feel. You failed no one.”


	34. Chapter 34

Mu followed Shaka, who seemed to know where they were and where they should go. But other than that, he had no idea what was happening around him. In fact, he had very little idea of _how_ anything was happening around him. The ground under him turned liquid, and Mu jumped ahead to what he hoped was a solid platform.

Shaka pointed ahead to something glittering through the sky ahead. “Beware, we are approaching the river of the souls. His power will be much greater there,” he said, then jumped up, to some of the platforms floating in midair. Mu followed.

“So you knew about all this from the beginning?” asked Mu, unable to hold himself back anymore.

“I had concerns about the way large numbers of souls were escaping so easily from the underworld, and I voiced them to Athena, who told me she was already preparing things to deal with that,” said Shaka. “When she brought back Aioros as little more than a badly fitted puppet and spirits started congregating around him, everything seemed to fall into place.”

Mu gave a vague noise of agreement. “And you couldn’t tell me because?”

“I wasn’t completely sure,” said Shaka, jumping to a different platform that extended over the horizon until the part where they could see the river of souls snaking up into the black space above them. Waterfalls descended and rose all around them, as if reaching towards the river.

“And you couldn’t tell me that either?” asked Mu.

“Mu, now is not the time.”

“No! The time to prepare would have been weeks ago. Hell, just yesterday might have been enough!”

The ground under their feet turned to sand as they advanced.

“I fail to see how we could have prepared for this,” said Shaka, pointing out at the moving shadows, the floating rocks, and whispering waters falling all around.

“That’s not the point!”

Shaka opened his mouth to retort, but then whirled around to look at something ahead. Mu turned to look too. Aioros observed them with empty eyes, holding Athena’s staff in his hands.

“Distract him!” said Mu, and teleported himself at Aioros.

“Mu don’t-!” yelled Shaka, but Mu had already disappeared.

He did not reappear where he wanted. He reappeared way past Aioros, right into the river of souls and sinking into the icy waters.

Mu gasped, fighting to float to the surface even as he felt dozens of hands all over him, pulling him down. Aioros looked at him with an amused smile.

“There is no pain, no time and no space in here,” he said, approaching him.

Mu reached the shore, but the pull from the river strengthened. His body heavy as a rock. He gasped for breath, but he felt like no air entered his lungs. Aioros grabbed him by the neck in an iron hold.

“Mu, won’t you break the gate? You who are the beginning of the cycle, and you can be the end too,” he said, then grimaced as if in pain.

Behind him, Shaka had started reciting the Great Compassion Mantra. Aioros strengthened his hold on Mu’s neck, cutting off all air, and started laughing, even as his face showed great pain.

“ _Crossed beyond all suffering and difficulty_?” asked Aioros, mocking Shaka's recitation. “Why, you are the first one who refuses to go beyond!” he pointed to a great golden light shining at the top of the river of souls. “Go! Go beyond all pain. Go beyond all reincarnation and beyond the chains of karma! Go now!”

Shaka gritted his teeth as he saw that door, and told himself that he had rejected it so many times, he could do it again. “I remain through my vows,” he said, and resumed his chanting.

Aioros stumbled when he heard him, but recovered fast. In his hand, Mu fell unconscious. “A vow to relieve suffering?” asked Aioros then he held Mu high up like a rag doll. “Acting like a Bodisattva when I’m holding your vow right here! I know! I know I know!” he cackled, and his voice twisted, echoing, separating into different voices that felt dreadfully familiar to Shaka. Aioros closed his eyes, the pain leaving his face. When he opened them they shone blue. The same blue of Shaka’s eyes. The same blue that Shaka had seen from all his faces in all his incarnations into this wheel of samsara. “We know,” whispered Aioros, with the same voices that Shaka had left behind in lives past. Eyes opened all around in the shadows. Shaka’s own eyes stared back at him. The echoes of his presence in different times and places.

Shaka steeled himself and kept chanting. The waters of the river receded, the presence of the spirits fleeing from his voice.

Aioros smirked. “As you open the gate of rebirth, I shall follow you,” he said, repeating the words that Shaka had said to Mu during so many reincarnations, and threw the unconscious Mu away into the currents of the river “

Shaka’s heart jumped, and he ran to save Mu.

Aioros laughed. “You are no Bodisattva! You have abandoned us! Unable to go beyond, unable to stay here! But the beyond is here. The beyond is now. The beyond is never. No more suffering. No more life and death!”


	35. Chapter 35

After some rest, Aioria could move on his own, but he was still…white.

“Are you sure you can run?” asked Milo.

Aioria gave some experimental kicks and punches in the air, then huffed in frustration. “Not as fast as normal, but this will do for now. Mi eyes are kinda itching though. Everything looks kinda bright.”

Camus grabbed Milo’s hand and examined it. “What about you? Does it hurt?”

Milo pulled away. “It’s fine, it’s fine,” he said, waving away Camus’ question.

“Who’s that?” asked Death Mask, looking out at a glowing light that approached.

“Aioros?” asked Aioria, looking towards where Death Mask pointed.

“No, that can’t be Aioros,” said Camus, looking out too. The light moved faster than a normal human, but it was too bright for them to distinguish who it was.

“Oh, no,” said Death Mask. “It’s Athena.”

Athena ran at them, holding up her dress as she ran, with Aphrodite close on her heels and looking worse for the wear. The last time he had looked so roughed up, Shun had killed him.

The Saints waited for her to stop when she saw them, but she just ran past them without a second look.

“Hurry up, you idiots!” yelled Aphrodite “The world is falling apart out there!”

The Saints ran after them.

“Athena! What are you doing here?!” asked Aioria.

“I have to destroy Aioros. I have to destroy his body and let his soul fade into the underworld river or he will become the new Hades!” said Athena, still running. They had never seen her run that fast, and she could easily rival their own speed.

“I told you!” said Milo, pointing at Aioria.

“He’s not becoming the new Hades!” cried Aioria.

“No, we’re not letting him,” said Saga, running up to them and bypassing them. He extended his hand at Athena and she took it. He carried her up and ran away so far, it seemed to the others like he had disappeared.

“Wh-where did they go?!” asked Milo.

Death Mask groaned and stopped. “He ran and used Another Dimension. I guess in a way it’ easier to get around here like that, but…,” he looked around. “You know what? Fuck this, I’m swimming there.” He ran towards one of the waterfalls and jumped into it.

“Wait no! Death Mask! You can’t breathe underwater!” cried Aphrodite, and jumped in after him.

The others stood unmoving.

“So,” started Milo. “Do we jump too or…?”

“I almost drowned before Hyoga’s mother yeeted me out of the sea, so I don’t know how wise-“

“Yeeted? What kind of word is that? Stop using the words that Hyoga teaches you!”

“He said it meant throwing.”

Aioria ran towards the waterfall and jumped in without another word. Milo facepalmed. “That kid. Aioros is gonna lose it if he dies.”

“I think Aioros is well beyond any reasoning.”

Milo waited a moment before answering. “No…Not yet.”


	36. Chapter 36

Death Mask jumped out of the flow of the river when he felt the resentment of the spirits reach a central point. In midair, as he looked down, he saw Aioros making his way through the river.

“I found you!” yelled Death Mask as he fell over him and kicked him out of the river.

Aphrodite emerged after him and called forth a wave of his roses to push Aioros further away from the shore.

“We’re never doing that again!” said Aphrodite, using vines to constrain Aioros.

“You weren’t supposed to follow me!” yelled Deathmask at Aphrodite behind him.

“Idiot! How could I let you go alone?”

Aioros grabbed the vines and _pulled_ , yanking Aphrodite like he weighed nothing. Death Mask used the Hell Waves to stop him and drain out the spirits possessing him, but the current of the river roared stronger, the waters overflowing and spilling out of the riverbed. The spirits raged, reaching out to him with cold hands, pulling him deeper into the waters.

Aphrodite recovered, stumbled up, and once more wrapped his vines around Aioros. “Don’t make us kill you again! I hated it! I hated it every single day of my life! I couldn’t stand to see the Sagittarius house! I couldn’t bear to even hear your name! So get yourself together and stop this nonsense!”

Aioros growled. “Lies! You’re lying!” he yelled, and pulled Aphrodite by the vines, making him crash against him. He grabbed him by the throat, lifting him above and strangled him. The Sagittarius cloth darkened, the metal blackening. “I hated! I felt your hate and I hated too!”

Aphrodite kicked him in the face and they both fell down. “Yes! I hated you! How could you have been killed?” yelled Aphrodite, grabbing him and throwing him to the ground, then punching him in the face. “How could you have let yourself be killed?! You were the strongest! You were justice, but if you could be defeated then there was only power! All justice and all beauty was power, because how could there be goodness?? How could goodness exist when even you were gone?!”

Aioros hit him with Athena’s staff and sent him flying and rolling down. When Aioros stood up the Sagittarius cloth started falling off him piece by piece. His hair turned black. He grabbed Aphrodite and slammed him into the ground, then he grabbed his head and slammed it against the ground again.

Death Mask tackled him, tearing him away from Aphrodite. “Stop! This isn’t you! This is their pain. But I know it. I know it all!” he yelled, grabbed Aioros by the shirt, and opened up his cosmos, setting his own soul adrift and drawing as many spirits out of Aioros and into his own body.

They both collapsed on the ground, unmoving. Aphrodite groaned and tried to push himself up. “Death Mask?” he asked. He tried to get up and realized one of his legs was broken and the other was too beaten to support his weight. “Death Mask, I swear, if you don’t get up, you’re sleeping in the garden tonight!”

Neither of them moved.

Aphrodite dragged his body forward, trying to reach them. “Death Mask, answer me!!”

Aioros reached out and held his hand. “He can hear you,” he said with all the voices within him, getting up. “He’s here, with us.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I think about how Deathmask and especially Aphrodite reacted to Aioros' death, I feel like they must have had very conflicted emotions about it. After all, Aioros had been the nicest and best, the one who was supposed to be Pope. If even someone like Aioros could end up actually being a traitor, then where could goodness and righteousness be found? I think that it would have been by following this train of thought that they would have arrived to the "Power is righteousness" decision they ended up having. Something like "If Aioros was good. If he'd had righteousness and truth and the will of the gods behind him, he would have been able to defeat us, but he didn't, so the ones who were in the right were us".
> 
> Overall, I feel like when Aioros died, they too lost their moral compass and didn't know what to do anymore.
> 
> I have a lot of feels about how much killing Aioros affected Aphrodite and Deathmask hehehe...


	37. Chapter 37

The depths of Aioros’ soul extended before Death Mask, as his own soul descended, losing form, merging, dissipating and fading.

He willed his self to shift. Changing, allowing his soul to adapt to the influences around him. The voices, the memories, the singing and the screaming. A whirlwind of what was and what could never be. Yearning pulled, mourning pushed, and yet he kept himself together, allowing without fading. Assuming the forms whispered to him, descending into such a subtlety of being, that the edges of his soul blurred.

_“Oh, where are they? Where is everyone?!” yelled a girl with bright red hair amidst a white desert. Death Mask followed, allowing her words to echo from his own throat. “Where is my family? Surt?! SURT!”_

_Death Mask willed his soul to separate, and grabbed her hand, allowing his own memories of Camus’ tale from the events on Asgard to echo back at her. Making her listen. Making her understand. Once more, he assumed a form of his own self to present to her._

_“Here they are,” he said, pointing to the place beyond. “Go further, go beyond. As you fall into the wheels of karma, you will meet them again.”_

The white desert crumbled, while below them, the wheels of karma turned, shifted, around and around endless lives and deaths. Passions and Aversions pushing and pulling. The girl grabbed on to him to not fall.

_“Noooo! I’ll be alone! I’ll fall alone!”_

_“We all fall and rise alone,”_

Death Mask released him form, allowing himself to fade away from her influence.

She fell.

Alone.

The wheels of karma vanished, uninterested in him who still had a beating heart that called out to his soul. But the other spirits still called. Around him, filling out the depths of Aioros’ being, ripping and tearing, forcing Death Mask to this form, and that memory. A spiral of lives, remembered and yearned for stretched out before him as he ascended, shifting here, turning there, and yet no here and no there could be felt for Death Mask to hold on to. Nowhere to look, nowhere to call. A constant drowning in the attachments of life that the dead still harbored.

Death Mask felt his soul weakening. Exhausting. The call from his heart echoing farther apart. The feeling of blood even more foreign as the edges of his Self blurred more, and more, and too much.

He pulled himself together and created a single attachment for his Self to hold on to. The smell of roses, the skin, soft as petals, and a laugh that contained all the beauty in the world in itself.

A sense of something like his attachment resounded within Aioros’ soul. The same feeling of the skin under his fingers. The same smell of roses. A path opened up before Death Mask and he followed it. A path that linked Aioros’ body and senses to his soul. A single strang of life tying them together. For a second he saw beyond Aioros’ own eyes, seeing him wrestle with Aphrodite.

The vision was gone in an instant, but Death Mask had never needed more. He followed the path, arising, yearning, even allowing his Self to echo the memories of Aioros. Even the ones he hated. Even the ones that he had sealed in his heart and his soul. The memory of Aioros’ voice that he had sealed away from his memory. He called out to him with every memory, every yearning and every regret he had, until he reached the core of his soul.

But something there awaited him.


	38. Chapter 38

Saga pulled Aioros away from Aphrodite and threw him against a nearby rock.

“I’ll take the staff from him,” he told Athena, who stood behind him.

Athena shook her head. “He has to let go of it by his own will,” she said, tapping her foot. Nike was still drawing in all the resentment and escaped spirits of the underworld just as she had planned, but it was taking longer than she had hoped. Too long. “Or his body must be destroyed.”

Saga cracked his knuckles. “I see…,” he said, and approached Aioros.

Aioros stood again. The last parts of his blackened cloth falling from him. The black of his hair and now eyes made him look like a shadow of who he had been.

“Aioros,” said Saga, against his own will. Hope still in his heart, despite what he saw before him.

“I…hate…,” hissed Aioros, eyes unfocused and on edge, like a trapped animal.

“I know,” said Saga, “But you would want me to stop you. I know you would.”

Aioros scoffed a laugh. “He would?” asked Aioros, with Saga’s own voice coming out of his mouth.

“Hmph, I wondered when you would appear,” said Saga.

“Thought you’d left me in hell?”

“For a while. I appreciated the silence in my head, that I did. But it’s time you get out of there.”

Aioros looked over Saga, straight into Athena, and lifted her staff. “Do you regret playing with the heart of mortals and allowing me the power to rival the gods?”

Athena crossed her arms and lifted an elegant eyebrow at that. “You say that, as if you ever knew the depths of the human hearts,” she said with a bored tone. Then she pointed up at the cliff behind him.

Aioros turned around and looked up at Shura standing on top of the cliff. Aioros stumbled backwards. “W-what is happening to this body?!” yelled Saga’s evil side. Saga immobilized him from behind.

Shura jumped down from the cliff. “Aioros, I know you can hear me,” he said, approaching them.

In Saga’s arms, Aioros started writhing, crying out in the pain of dozens of voices. Shura grabbed his face. “Aioros, please. I’m sorry. I should have told you before, but-“

Aioros’ voice came clear from among the fading echo of the others. “Sh-Shura, what? Shura, I can’t…I can’t stop them-“

“Let go of the staff!” yelled Saga. Aioros threw his head back and hit him on the face.

“I’m holding the staff, you idiot!” yelled the voice of Saga’s dark side, and started cackling. He kicked Shura away and hit Saga with the staff. “We’re all here, and we are far stronger than him!”

“I’m sorry Shura,” said Saga, wiping the trail of blood from his nose. “But we have to destroy him.”

“No. Not yet.”

“It’s too late already!” he pointed at Aioros. “Do you think he would have wanted this? Do you think he would have wanted to live to become this?!”

“It’s my fault.”

“It doesn’t matter whose fault it is! We need to stop him!” he turned to Athena. “Athena, take cover!”

The ground shook, and all above them the platforms, the waterfalls, the shadows, and the world itself, started moving, shifting, circling around them.

“Galaxian-!”

Shura stepped in front of him. “Let me fight him first.” He said.

“Shura…” growled Saga.

“Saga,” called Athena, but when he looked at her he found she was looking at the river. She pointed out into the distance where a dim golden light sparkled. “Please go help Shaka.”

“B-but Athena…”

She raised an eyebrow at him.

He said no more and ran towards the light.

Shura walked towards Aioros, extending his right arm and calling forth Excalibur. “Now. All your resentment… You can take it out on me,” he said.

Aioros started laughing with all the voices of the spirits within him, but tears still ran down his cheeks.

“Why are you crying?” asked Shura, his voice choking on his own tears. “Now you can fight me fairly. Now you don’t have to let your guard down”

The shadows spiraling around them shifted, turning into endless arrays of black arrows. Thunder roared overhead and rays descended all around, making the very air taste metallic.

Aioros sobbed. “No…,” he gasped. Behind him, the river of the souls roared. The voices of the dead rising in pitch, a shrill cry of despair and rage, going on and on. He grabbed his own head. “NO NO NO NOOOO”

He fell silent.

The dead quieted.

He let his arms fall and turned to walk towards the river. He halted after a step.

“No. Not there,” he said, a different voice coming from his mouth.

“Death Mask?” asked Shura, not believing his own words.

Aphrodite snapped out of the daze he was in and tried to stand up again, but his broken legs crumbled under his weight. “Stupid fucking powerless body,” he muttered, and felt several of his cracked ribs finally breaking. He swallowed his own scream of pain and shook his hair away from his face. “Death Mask is there! Death Mask what the fuck are you doing there? Get back into your own body and help us!”

Aioros stumbled towards Shura, halted for a moment, then his shadow reformed, teared off into parts that reformed into black arrows and shot at Shura.

Shura jumped, sidestepped and dodged. The arrows turning the ground where they struck into dissolved black melted puddles.

“Aioros? Death Mask? Who the hell is in control now?!” yelled Shura.

Aioros sprinted at him and punched him in the face. Shura recovered, dodged a couple blows, and jumped back away when the shadow arrows reformed and shot at him. Shura dodged them all, then looked up, and found Aioros materializing before him one second before he kneed him in the stomach and hit him over the head with the staff. Shura fell to the ground and braced himself when he saw Aioros lift the staff at him, ready to use Excalibur in both his arms to protect himself.

Aioros froze. “Look man,” said Death Mask’s voice, coming from Aioros’ mouth, and Shura pulled his arms away to look at him. An expression of strain and exhaustion was in Aioros’ face. A very foreign expression. “I’m making my best effort here. I’ve had to fight off like a hundred ghosts and Saga’s evil side just to get to him, but it would _really_ help if you didn’t make beating you so easy.”

“Death Mask! What happened to Aioros? Put him in control!”

“Dude, this is not a car! I can’t put him on the steering wheel! His soul is a fragmented mess and I’m trying to put it together, but I’m also trying to…not…let him kill us all.” Aioros punched himself in the face and fell to the ground.

Shura jumped up and went to see him. Aioros looked completely out, and Shura eyed the staff. He grabbed it, trying to pull it off his hand.

“Don’t!” yelled Athena.

Shura’s fingers touched the staff, and a cold dread ran through Shura’s veins. The world around silenced. The light fading. A complete darkness enveloping his eyes and curling around his heart, as if a tendril of cold seized a hold of his being.

Something slapped him across the face. Something sharply _cold_.

Shura blinked, the light came back to his eyes, and saw Camus above him.

He slapped him back.

Camus gave a cold expression of disgust. “He’s fine,” he called back to someone behind him.

Shura pushed himself up. “Wha-what?”

“That’s good!” yelled back Milo. “I could use a hand here!”

“I’ve been trying to wake you up for a while,” said Camus. “I was about to give up, but Athena said ice cold could counteract death cold.”

“Death wha-?”

Camus let him fall to the ground and rushed to help Milo contain Aioros. But Aioros grabbed Milo’s arm and threw him against Camus, sending both flying away against a cliff that crumbled over them. Shura used Excalibur to break down the biggest of rocks, making sure they weren’t harmed, when he felt something hit him from behind. Aioros kicked him down, making him land on a crater in the ground. Shura, vision dazed and feeling like the world tilted around him, turned to try and recover but Aioros stepped on him. He felt a few of his ribs cracking and he cried out in pain.

Aioros stepped back, stumbled a couple steps and fell down, yelling. “NO! NO! STOP!”

Shura jumped up and tried to restrain him, wrestling with him. “Aioros! Aioros come back!”

“We’re trying!” said Death Mask’s voice. “But it’s too much! The pain! It’s too much!” he sobbed, tears falling from his eyes. He shivered, went limp for a moment, and then bashed Shura in the head with the staff. Shura let go and found himself under Aioros who grabbed him by the hair and bashed his head against the ground.

“Dammit Shura, punch back!” yelled Death Mask. “I’m fighting a thousand battles in here, it’s not the time for your guilt!”

Shura gritted his teeth. “It’s not time for my guilt?! When will it be time to atone for all our guilt?!” he yelled, and pushed him off of him, pinning Aioros to the ground. “It’s been a lifetime of guilt! A lifetime of betrayal! Endlessly misguided loyalty where I only betrayed the world, the gods, the only one I loved! I’m sick of it! Forgive me Athena, but if he must be gone, take us both away!”

Kanon jumped down from a nearby platform and landed next to Athena, followed by Radamanthys. “Hey, we got here on time for the love confessions,” he said, twirling Poseidon’s trident in his hand. “This should get more interesting.”

Radamanthys grunted in vague agreement.

The air shifted, an electric tension crackling in the atmosphere, and with a high pitched sound, Saga materialized next to them, along with Shaka and carrying an unconscious Mu on one shoulder and someone completely while on the other. Saga immediately glared at Kanon.

“Why do you have Poseidon’s trident?” he asked, then readjusted the white thing he carried in his shoulder and pointed to Radamanthys. “What is that? What’s he doing alive? And with you?!”

Kanon lifted his arms. “Poseidon said it would help! He practically shoved the trident into my hands!” he said. Saga gave him a disbelieving stare. Kanon rolled his eyes and stepped back to stand next to Radamanthys. “And he’s my boyfriend now.”

“Kanon!” yelled Saga

“I’m what?!” said Radamanthys

“Shut up or you’re not welcome back home,” muttered Kanon.

“Kanon we live in a cave. It doesn’t count as home if we sleep on the ground.”

“So you’re homeless and dating this trash now?” asked Saga. The white bulk in his shoulder groaned and hissed in pain and he shook him to shut him up. “Is that why you left? To bum around with this loser?”

Athena stepped forward and snatched the trident from Kanon’s hands, running towards where Aioros and Shura were fighting. She grasped the trident with both hands and planted her feet firmly on the ground. The river of souls weakened its flow, the waters stilling, the dark pressure over all of them lifting.

“Aioros, this is the moment,” she said, extending her left hand towards him.

Shura let go of him and found himself flying away from a kick to the chest. He crashed right in front of where Milo and Camus were climbing out of the debris.

“Did he become the new Hades already?” asked Milo

“He won’t,” muttered Shura, writhing on the ground and spitting blood.

Aioros shook his head, walking backwards until his feet touched the river of souls. The waters agitated with his presence. The ground beneath Athena’s feet trembled, the earth cracking open between them as she held the powers of the dead back using Poseidon’s trident.

“It is over,” said Aioros shaking his head, tears still falling from his face even as he smiled and all the voices of the dead spoke with him. “All suffering is over! Halt the wheels of karma! Halt the powers of the gods!”

All around the light dimmed. The stars fading from the black sky, the air and every sound stilling. The floating parts of the world and the underworld, merged and spinning all around halted.

“Aioros!” called Saga “Remember him?” he threw Aioria to the ground in front of him, where he could see him clearly.

Aioria coughed, writhing on the ground in pain. All color had left him, from the tips of his hair, to the pupils of his eyes, and even his armor had turned a faded white.

“A-Aioros…” he cried, dragging himself forward, reaching out with extended arms, as if he couldn’t see anything.

Aioros looked at him for a second, as if not fully understanding what he was seeing. Then he screamed. “Aioria!” he dropped the staff and ran to his brother, pulling him into his arms. “Aioria, what happened to you?!”

The staff spun in the air, then vanished and reappeared in Athena’s hand. Movement returned. The atmosphere lightening and the stars shining once more. She threw the trident back to Kanon. “You keep the river back,” she ordered, then pointed to Radamanthys. “And you’ll help me rebuild the gate and keep it closed.”

“So that’s why you brought me back,” scoffed Radamanthys, crossing his arms.

Athena smirked. “Behave, and I might give you control of the underworld. The rest of you, get out of here as fast as possible. Whoever stays back can’t return again once I seal the gate! Now!”

Death Mask returned to his body and stood up, holding his head. “I know the way,” he said, and went to pick up Aphrodite.

The waterfalls all around dried up. The river of souls rising as all the souls concentrated there. An unseen force pushed back Kanon even as he held to the trident with all his strength.

“Seriously you all, get out of here!” he yelled, his feet sliding on the ground and the force of the dead pushed him back.

Radamanthys held the trident along with him. “You’re doing it all wrong!”

“ _You’re doing it all wrong,”_ repeated Kanon in a whiny voice. “If you don’t get a castle in the underworld after this, I’m dumping you.”

They all followed Death Mask out.


	39. Chapter 39

With the gate closed, Athena could properly allow Aioros’ soul to attach to his body. But it would take a few days for him to get used to it and be able to move comfortably. Especially after the damage that the possession had done to him. So for a few days, he stayed in bed, with Shura taking care of him until Aioria recovered too. Aioria’s recovery would take longer, and for most of the time after they came back he stayed unconscious, resting in a different room of the house of Sagittarius, since Aioros wanted to have him close by.

“I can sit down at the table,” said Aioros, when Shura brought a tray with food for him. He closed the book he had been reading and set it down next to him.

“Shion said in bed for a month,” said Shura with finality. “And you can barely walk. Don’t push yourself too much.”

Aioros sighed. “But I can sit up now without problem.”

Something fell and crashed on the living room and Shura went to investigate. He came back with an expression of worry, leading Aioria into the room.

“There he is, can you see him? Can you see anything now?” he said, and helped Aioria sit down on the edge of Aioros’ bed.

“I can see shapes now, and some colors. Nothing too defined, but it’s alright,” he said.

Shura left them alone and closed the door behind him. Aioros reached out to hold Aioria’s hand.

“You’re awake now,” he said. “I was starting to get worried, but you’re up and about now, uh?”

Aioria nodded, and Aioros noticed that the tips of his hair were getting back their dark golden color and there was a pale green coming back to his eyes.

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” said Aioria.

Aioros laughed. “Aioria I don’t think you’ve ever been less fine.”

Aioria gave a small smile. “Well, we both survived, so…“

“That’s true, yeah, that’s true.”

They fell silent for a moment.

Aioria took a deep breath “I’m sorry…It was all my fa-,“ he started.

Aioros grabbed the book and hit him over the head with it. “Stop. Stop blaming yourself,” he said with a huff. “Shura explained everything to me. Gods Aioria, if you had sat me down and talked to me calmly it would not have hit me so hard”

Aioria started crying. “I don’t know what I was thinking. I just wanted to hurt him so bad, but when I realized what I was doing I just…“

“Mhm…”

“Say something! If you hate me just say it!”

Aioros pulled him closer to hold him against his chest. Holding him felt just as warm as when he had last held him before dying. When Aioria had been so very small. “The only one who hates you here is yourself,” he said and sighed. “Ah, what could I say? It was pain. You two were in so much pain, and I felt it all the way into the underworld, but I couldn’t even comfort you.”

“So you’re not angry?” asked Aioria, burrowing against Aioros’ chest. He felt very small then. Small and warm.

“I kind of am, I gotta say, it’s pretty weird that my brother and my boyfriend-,” he said, and laughed. “Ah, it’s too weird to think about it too much. Let’s just agree to never ever bring it up again and not worry about it anymore…,” he rocked Aioria against him, like he used to do when he could still easily carry him around with one hand. But he couldn’t hold himself back anymore, and he really had to know. “Do you still regret that I’m back?”

“Regret? I never regretted you being back! I just... I thought bringing you back had just caused you more pain and more suffering, and I couldn’t bear it. I couldn’t bear to think that I just kept hurting people for my selfishness. That I’d forced you to live again in constant pain, in a world you couldn’t even recognize…”

“Hmmm. It was painful. A bit. But I also think… it was fate. That pain was bound to be. Our souls are pawns for the gods, but…” he hugged him harder, nuzzling his hair. “I can hug you again, so everything’s fine”

Aioria laughed and hugged him back.

Listening to Aioria laugh, and knowing that he was fine… Aioros decided that living really was pretty amazing. Far more than he thought it would be.


	40. Chapter 40

Shura turned the oven off and pulled the fish out of it, setting it on the counter. He was pretty sure it should _not_ be black. Not even a little bit.

“That doesn’t look good,” said Aioros behind him, looking over his shoulder.

“A very insightful comment, uh? What are you doing up? Go back to bed,” said Shura, throwing a rag over the ruined fish to hide his failure. He turned around and pushed Aioros towards the kitchen door.

“I’m sick of being in bed,” whined Aioros.

“Athena and Shion said at least a full month of rest.”

“Oh, when Athena says I have to rest you obey, but when she says I have to die you don’t?”

“What kind of comparison is that?!”

Aioros turned around and pushed Shura against the wall. “Don’t ever do that again.”

“Wha- Aioros what-?”

“Don’t try to follow me into death. It makes me so angry. You chasing into death again and again. Stop. The only consolation I had in death was that you and Aioria did not have to suffer with me too.”

Shura gritted his teeth and hit Aioros lightly on the chest. “I’m not letting you go again” he said. “If you don’t want me to die with you then just focus on not dying. We can’t come back anymore, remember?”

“I do remember that. But just…stay with me. Don’t get hurt anymore,” he said, and kissed him.

Shura felt his heart racing, and clung to Aioros’ shirt as the kiss deepened. Aioros separated from him and Shura panted, out of breath, a tension all over his body as Aioros moved to kiss down the column of his throat.

“You need to go back to bed!” said Shura, trying to push him away. Aioros’ hands lowered to encircle his waist, pulling him flush against his chest.

“Fine, let’s go to the bed,” whispered Aioros against his skin.

Shura’s heart jumped and he felt his whole body grow hotter. “No! Just you!” he cried.

Aioros regarded him for a moment, staring at him with that same heavy stare that Shion had. “…You’ve been avoiding me for days. Ever since Aioria went back to Leo. What is it? Do you…not want me to touch you?”

“It’s just weird,” said Shura, feeling his face turn completely red. “Aren’t you like fourteen?”

Aioros blinked, seemed to process his words, and started laughing in his face. Shura headbutted him. “What’s so funny?!”

Aioros wiped a tear from his eye and struggled to stop laughing. “Shura I was just messing with you! I can’t believe you really thought that I-“

Shura pinched his nose. “You came back such an annoying brat. Always messing with me!” he said, but his chest felt a lot lighter, and he let himself be pulled into the bedroom.

“Sorry, you’re just so cute when you make that angry, shocked face, or when you’re surprised…I just love to see all the expressions on your face,” said Aioros, pushing Shura down on the bed.

Shura reached out and pulled him closer, wanting to kiss him more than he had ever wanted anything. Aioros leaned down, pressing against him and deepening the kiss, settling between Shura’s parted legs. His hands roamed down Shura’s sides, sneaking under his shirt to touch bare skin and Shura moaned at the feeling of their heat over his skin. Aioros separated and laughed. 

“Ah, you’re gonna have to lead me here,” he said even as one of his hands slid under Shura’s pants to grab as his ass which sent a shiver of desire down Shura’s back straight to his groin. “I don’t know what I’m doing.”

Shura realized that, despite everything else, this really had to be the first time Aioros…

“Y-you’re a…,” he stuttered.

“You killed me before I could have sex, you could at least take the lead,” joked Aioros, smiling and nipping at Shura’s neck.

Shura facepalmed and pushed Aioros down so that he was now straddling him. Looking down at his flushed and panting face, feeling him growing hard between his legs, it all made Shura feel like an impatient virgin himself. He licked his lips.

“We need…,” he said, looking around. But he didn’t have anything like lube on him.

“On the bedside table,” said Aioros, rubbing Shura’s thighs.

“When did you get lube?”

“What’s lube? Aphrodite just sent me a box, but I haven’t opened it,” said Aioros, his cheeks coloring red.

Shura reached to open the bedside drawer and found a green box with a pale pink bow and a card. It read: _“For when you can put that body to good use”._

“Aphrodite…,” muttered Shura and tore off the bow. Inside he found the fanciest bottle of lube he had ever seen.

“Is that what you were looking for?” asked Aioros, trying to sit up. “Do we need anything else?” 

Shura pushed him back down on the bed and took off his shirt. “That’s all we need. Strip.”

Aioros froze, his whole face turning red. Shura gave a smug smirk. It was nice to finally turn the tables on him and see him flustered and surprised for once. Shura reached for Aioros’ shirt, tugging it off him. “Hurry, I want you inside me,” said Shura, pulling at the waistband of Aioros’ pants.

Aioros sat up and kissed him, his hands once more touching Shura anywhere he could. Chest, back, getting inside his pants. Shura moaned and Aioros deepened the kiss. Shura rubbed against him, wanting to feel the heat of his skin all over his body.

A loud tearing sound made Shura jerk to attention. He looked down and saw that Aioros had ripped his pants apart. He looked up at Aioros and blinked a couple times.

“Sorry, I got excited” said Aioros with a sheepish grin that said he wasn’t sorry. He wasn’t sorry at all.

Shura rolled his eyes, and realized he didn’t care about his pants.

He laughed. He laughed, and laughed, and couldn’t stop himself. He threw his arms around Aioros’ neck and kissed him as he laughed. He kissed his lips, his cheeks, his nose. 

“I’ve missed you so much, I’ve loved you so much,” he said, not even realizing he was talking.

Aioros laughed and kissed his chest, right over Shura’s heart. “I know. I’m here now. We’re here now.”

Shura nodded, threading his fingers through Aioros’ curls. Even the smell of him was intoxicating him. He bit at Aioros’ earlobe and whispered. “Now take off your pants, we’ve waited too long.”

This time Aioros obeyed right away, and Shura used that moment to open the cap of the bottle that Aphrodite had sent them. A strong scent of musk and incense filled his nose, and he almost thought that it was actually a perfume, until he dipped two fingers inside and felt that it was indeed lube.

“What are you...I mean, what is that for?” asked Aioros.

Shura felt himself blushing in embarrassment again. Aioros’ innocence made him feel exposed and embarrassed and hot all at the same time.

“It’ll make it easier to open myself to you,” said Shura, and reached behind himself to insert the first finger, still straddling Aioros.

He held on to Aioros’ shoulder for support, hiding his face against his neck. He had done this so many times but having Aioros’ eyes on him now felt like too much.

“Does it hurt?” asked Aioros, softly against Shura’s hair, caressing his back.

“N-no, it’s fine, I just...need a moment,” said Shura, inserting another finger.

Aioros pulled his face up and kissed him, seeking entrance to Shura’s mouth by licking his lips. Shura opened his mouth with a moan as he inserted another finger.

Once he thought he was open enough, he took some more of the lube and coated Aioros’ dick. Aioros jerked under his touch, gasping for breath. Shura stroked him a couple times, enjoying the look of pleasure in his face, the way he moaned and whined under his touch. Even in his lewdest fantasies, Aioros hadn’t looked this hot. Entranced in the pleasure, a panting, writhing mess under Shura’s touch.

Shura pushed him down to lay down on the bed and positioned himself. Like this, with Aioros being so hot, he feared he would not last long.

“Shura?” asked Aioros, when Shura grabbed his dick and started descending on him.

“Let’s…try to go slow,” gasped Shura, feeling Aioros pushing inside him.

Aioros arched against him, pushing deeper and moaning. “Shura! Shura! Ah, it feels so good,” he said, his bright eyes staring up at Shura with a devotion that made Shura’s skin tingle with desire.

Shura braced himself and sunk down completely, taking Aioros down to the hilt and making him cry out in pleasure. He smirked at the sight of Aioros, mad with pleasure.

“You’re so hot like this,” whispered Shura, starting to move slowly up and down, enjoying the burn of Aioros length inside him.

Aioros whined, incapable of putting together words. Shura started moving faster, bracing against Aioros’ muscular chest. Aioros’ skin felt so hot under his hands. Everything about him was so hot, and so bright, and so _alive_. It gave Shura a headrush to think that he had him moaning and begging underneath him.

Aioros reached out to grab Shura’s hips and started thrusting up into him. “Shura, I can’t- I’m-!” he moaned and spilled himself inside Shura.

Shura braced himself, holding on to Aioros’ shoulder as he felt the hot liquid inside himself. Aioros relaxed underneath him and Shura pulled away from him, feeling cum slip out of his entrance.

Aioros panted for breath. “Wow, that-“ he said, then looked at Shura, and noticed that he hadn’t come. He facepalmed. “That was too fast!”

Shura laughed. “It was not. It was your first time,” he said.

“Sh-Shura, I’m sorry,” said Aioros

Shura smiled and licked his lips. He looked at Aioros’ mouth. It looked so delicious. He thought that maybe it wouldn’t be too much for Aioros to try and take him into his mouth. Just the thought of it made him even harder.

“I know!” said Aioros, and spread his legs, pulling Shura between them. “You can do me now!”

Shura startled. “What? But that- that will be too much,” said Shura.

“You don’t want to?” asked Aioros, pulling him closer until Shura’s dick was flush against his ass. Shura jerked and ground against him at the feel of him. “Ah, you do want to.”

Shura swallowed. He didn’t expect Aioros to agree to this until at least the third time they had sex, but it seemed like Aioros wanted to make up for the time lost.

“Are you sure?” still asked Shura, his hands trailing up and down Aioros’ leg.

“Shura, I want to do it every single way with you,” said Aioros, pulling him down for another open mouthed kiss.

Shura let him kiss him and trailed his hands up, grabbing at Aioros’ ass. Aphrodite had been right. He was like a fantasy from some lewd romance novel. Still, Shura didn’t want to be too harsh on him. After all, he had barely just recovered. Shura separated from him.

“Fine, but you haven’t fully recovered-“

“Shura,” whined Aioros.

Shura silenced him by covering his mouth with his hand. “No, Mr. Horny Virgin. We’re not going that hard tonight. Now…Now lay on your stomach, it’ll be easier on your body like that.”

Aioros licked at Shura’s hand. “But I can’t see your face like that,” he complained, pouting.

“We’ll have many more nights to try any position you want,” said Shura, pulling away and grabbing the bottle of lube.

Aioros pushed himself up and moved to lay on his hands and legs, shifting so that his arms hung over the edge of the foot of the bed. “And mornings, and afternoons, and evenings” he said, with a laugh.

“You really feel nothing about acting like a horny virgin,” said Shura, smiling. There was something about Aioros’ joy that felt contagious.

“It’s your fault! I died too young. We’ll have to make up for all the lost time,” he said

Shura knelt behind Aioros. “Tell me if it hurts,” he said, and introduced one finger into his entrance.

Aioros took a sharp intake of air. “It’s…weird. But it doesn’t hurt. And besides, I think I can take a little pain.”

Shura grunted in annoyance. “No pain,” he said, and slowly pushed another finger. He gulped at the feeling of heat inside Aioros, already imagining how delicious it would be to sink into that heat. Aioros would also surely be very thight. Shura grabbed his own dick and gave a couple strokes, seeing his fingers disappear into Aioros. He was trying to go slow, but he was just as needy and desperate as Aioros.

“Shura come on, it won’t hurt,” said Aioros, lowering his chest against the bed and spreading his legs even more. The muscles on his back moved in such a tempting way, Shura had already positioned against his entrance before he realized what he was doing. He snapped out of it and tried to focus.

“If it does hurt-“ started Shura.

“Shura please, don’t make me beg,” said Aioros. “Or wait, you want me to beg? Shura, please, get inside me, pleeease.”

“I-Idiot,” muttered Shura, not wanting to show just how hot he found Aioros talking like that. He could feel his cheeks flushing at his words.

He pressed into him, moaning when he saw his dick disappearing into Aioros, and it took all of his considerable self control not to push in and sink into the heat of Aioros’ body. He pushed in slowly, transfixed by the sight of Aioros taking him in. Aioros was much tighter than he had expected. Tight and hot, and Shura wanted to drive into him hard and fast.

He took a moment to regain his breath. “Aioros?” he asked. “Does it hurt? Can I move?”

Aioros moaned. “Fuck, Shura…you look so hot,” he said.

Shura looked up, and saw Aioros staring at something ahead. Shura followed his line of sight and realized that they were positioned almost in front of the mirror hanging on the wall. Aioros had been staring at Shura all the time.

“Aioros, you-“ muttered Shura, his face turning red.

“Move, shura, I want to feel you,” said Aioros. “Fuck me hard”

“Y-you’re supposed to be a virgin!”

Aioros laughed and stuck out his tongue at him. “Aphrodite left a bunch of erotic books for me to read while bedridden.”

“I see…,” said Shura, making a mental note to go burn down Aphrodite’s romance novels collection as soon as possible. “Fine, then, as you wish.”

Shura pulled out, then pushed in again, settling a rhythm that made Aioros gasp for breath even as he kept staring at Shura through the mirror. Then suddenly he jerks and cries out in pleasure, falling down against the bed. Shura smirks.

“I found it,” he said, and focused on hitting that spot again.

“Ah! Shura, what is-?!” cried Aioros, grasping at the bedspread for anything to hold as Shura drove harder into him, faster. “Shura, I’m-I’m coming!”

Shura growled, grabbing Aioros’ hips harder. His self control reaching an end, he pushed harder into Aioros, losing any rhythm, just grinding into him seeking completion.

Aioros moaned against the bed and came again, spilling himself and tightening so hard around Shura that he brought Shura over the edge with him.

Shura pulled our and laid down next to him, unable to move anymore.

“Aioros…,” he whispered

Aioros started laughing. “Ahhh, this was much better than the books!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huge thank you to @card4IV on twitter for the wonderful work she made with this illustration. Now go to her twitter and commission her for more beautiful smut.  
> #  
> Aioros: Aphrodite, I have need for your knowledge  
> Aphrodite: Hmmmm...You don’t know how to use a phone yet, so…  
> Aioros: And I don’t want to learn how to use one.  
> Aphrodite: Well, here are some books to educate yourself for when that body of yours can do something more interesting  
> Aioros: Yessss
> 
> ###
> 
> Ta-Da! This fic is done! Thank you for reading and I hope you have enjoyed this. It was a bit more complex that I usually do and that brought its own set of problems with how I wanted to narrate the whole thing. In fact, I think this was one of the most complex fics I've written, not only because of the plot but also because of the challenge of narrating certain things like Deathmask's journey to find Aioros' soul, and all the fight scenes which are always a challenge for me.
> 
> Whenever I finish a fic, I always have to repeat to myself something that I heard once and that I've never forgotten. "Every story is the failure of a great idea" and I have to tell myself that about this fic too. I tried my best, but I feel like I still fell short of the emotions and narrative style that I wanted to have for this story.
> 
> When I plan my outlines (for the fics that have them, such as the multi chapter ones), I try to have a rhythm for the action. Something that drives the events of the story and that echoes in the reader's head. I felt like that was one of the weakest points in this story, because I just tried to have so much happening at once, where basically all the plot threads from the previous parts of Remade Anew came together at the battle with Aioros. But, with every stretch of our skills, we can get better, and I do feel like making this fic helped me see more of my weak points in my writing. 
> 
> So I might try to re edit this fic later on when I have the chance. Try to polish it a bit and make things clearer. For now I'm working on the draft for another story that comes after this one and that will tie up a couple loose threads that are still remaining, such as Saga's point of view and what happens with Aioria after this and how he recovers. But that is still in the planning stage, so if you're interested, you'll have to be a bit patient with me now.
> 
> Thank you for reaching until the end, and I hope you have enjoyed this journey.  
> As always, I'm on twitter as @alexdamien


End file.
